A Year in the Life: Part Nine- The Pyropes
by kaybee613
Summary: Terezi Pyrope is blind, but that doesn't keep her from navigating life successfully. But as she goes through the first year of high school, will that remain the same, or will she get sucked into friends' drama?
1. Treehouse

"Oh man, we haven't been up in the treehouse for so long," Vriska said with a laugh from behind Terezi. Terezi felt out in front of her for the wooden floor of the treehouse and climbed in.  
"Yeah, Mom says it's not safe for me to be up so high, but she's hardly around lately so who cares?"  
"Yeah, where _is_ she, anyway?"  
"Hell if I know. Between her clients and her own case against Dad and the baby shit—"  
"Whoa, whoa, wait—she's suing your dad? Why?"  
Terezi shrugged. "Guess he hasn't been paying child support."  
"Like you need it; your mom makes lawyer money."  
"That's what I'm saying! I told her to just let it go because it's stressing her out and it's bad for the baby but she just said something about justice…" Terezi sighed. She knew it had been a rough summer for her mom. Her parents divorced right after the accident—the year before, Terezi had gone mostly blind, and the medical recourse drove them apart—so it'd been the year anniversary of that whole fiasco, and then in July, not only did Terezi's mother get broken up with, but she also found out she was pregnant, and on top of that, Terezi's dad stopped making payments, so Rebecca had been kept fairly busy. Latula, Terezi's older sister, was out with her boyfriend a lot, so Terezi was left on her own most of the time, which for an ordinary 14-year-old wasn't a problem, and it wasn't really a problem for Terezi, either, but her mom worried a bit about leaving the blind girl at home alone. The summer had simultaneously been very eventful and very boring, and Terezi was glad Vriska was around. They were best friends, despite a messy history.  
"So when's she due?" Vriska asked. "The baby, I mean."  
"I think April?"  
"Oh, breaking up the Libra Squad."  
Terezi laughed. "I know; it's kind of weird how that's worked out."  
Vriska let out a light breath. "Great view from up here, eh, Pyrope?" Terezi raised an eyebrow at Vriska, scowling a bit. "Come on, don't be like that. I'm just messing with you a little bit."  
"Hmph," Terezi tutted, but she wasn't actually mad. That was just Vriska being Vriska.  
"'Reziiii," Vriska pouted.  
"It's fine, Vris. Besides, we already got even for that."  
"An eye for an eye," Vriska muttered.  
"An eye for an eye and an arm for the other." It wasn't unusual for them to make light of their handicaps, both incurred by the other. They were silent for a moment, and then Terezi heard Vriska flexing the fingers on her prosthetic arm, the small metal crackling a giveaway. She let out another breath. "It was an accident, you know."  
"Yeah, I know. Thank fuck for Equius, right?" Vriska was, of course, referring to the fact that Equius had upgraded her prosthetic to improve joint control, so she could actually use the fingers properly.  
"Mhm." Terezi found it somewhat odd to be back in her treehouse, especially with Vriska, especially after the last time they'd been up there together. It was what prompted her mother's worry about her being in the treehouse at all, after Tavros got hurt and then Vriska got hurt and then Terezi had her own problems. Middle school had been rough on all of them. But at the same time, she found something relaxing in it, too. Some kind of weird catharsis. Everyone thought it was weird that she and Vriska were even still friends, something Karkat in particular was vocal about. Well, Karkat was vocal about a lot of things. Getting that kid to shut up was a task of its own.  
"You know, being up here reminds me of the Team Scourge days. Hey! We should get the D&D group back together!" Vriska said. "We always had such great adventures."  
"I was impartial," Terezi said.  
" _Suuuuuuuure,"_ Vriska hummed.  
"Yeah, well, you may be able to talk Eridan and Tavros into it, but something tells me Aradia won't be a part of any new session we start."  
Vriska scoffed. "Who cares? She was always so odd anyway. We could probably get Nepeta to play; she's into roleply."  
"You can't just _replace_ your friends, Vriska."  
"Sure I can. Besides, it's not like I cut Aradia out of my life or anything, but if she doesn't wanna play D&D anymore, she doesn't have to." Terezi pursed her lips. She didn't know for sure if Vriska had something to do with that weird shit that happened to Aradia after her mom died, but it wouldn't surprise her in the least. But she decided to set that aside for the time being. Vriska was… a morally ambiguous person. Which made her friendship with Vriska very interesting. Terezi tended to see morality as pretty black-and-white, and Vriska inhibited a very grey area. But the way Terezi saw it was, there's good and bad in everybody. Vriska was just more upfront about it. They spent the afternoon up in the treehouse, their reminiscing only interrupted when Vriska's mom called.

"What?" Vriska snipped when she answered the phone. "Mom, Jesus Christ, I'm at Terezi's. Ugh, please sto—sto—Mom, stop talking. I'll go to the stupid grocery store, fuck." And then Vriska hung up. Terezi raised an eyebrow at her.

"You talk to your mom like that?"

"She's being dumb. Anyway. Guess I gotta go."

"Alright, well, see ya later then," Terezi murmured. Vriska clambered down the rope ladder first, Terezi following behind her. She grabbed her cane, clenched it between her teeth, then took it back into her hand as she hit the ground. She could tell that Vriska was already on her way around the side, towards the front yard, so Terezi turned the other way and went inside. Immediately, Terezi could tell something was off. Why did the house reek?

"Tules, did you put something in the oven?" Based on the digital explosions and the rustle of a nearby beanbag chair, Latula was in the living room, playing video games as she usually was.

"Yeah, I was heating up some pizza."

"I think you're burning it." Latula jolted upright, pausing her game.

"What?" She darted towards the oven and pulled it open, a small plume of smoke bursting in her face. "Oh, shit, the cheese dripped off and it's all burning at the bottom of the oven. Fuck."

"Jesus, how do you miss stuff like this?" Terezi shook her head.

"What?! I got really into my game, okay? And you know I have congenital anosmia."

Terezi rolled her eyes. She got real tired of her sister being so sensitive about not being able to smell. Terezi didn't pull the 'blind' card nearly as much as Latula pulled the 'anosmiac' card, and one was way more of a disability than the other.

"Is Mom coming home early tonight?" Terezi asked.

"I 'unno."

"Alright… well do you wanna order takeout then? I'm pretty hungry already. And since _someone_ burned the rest of the pizza…"

"'Reziiiii, I'm _sorryyyyy."_

Terezi just playfully grinned at her older sister. "It's fine, just clean it up please. Burnt cheese smells awful." Latula slid the pizza slices out of the oven, blackened crust and all, before she grabbed a scrubber to get rid of the former cheese that was now nothing but dust on the bottom of the oven. Terezi slid her phone out of her pocket, and pressed the home button to activate voice commands. "Call _Golden Dragon_ ," she instructed. Terezi's phone really was a marvel of technology. Where mostly everyone had touchscreens or iPhones, Terezi had an older-looking full keyboard phone, but the keys also had Braille symbols (learning Braille had certainly been a challenge) and voice commands that would read incoming text messages to her.

"Calling _Golden Dragon_ ," the phone parroted back. As soon as she got on the line, Terezi gave the guy their regular order, and within an hour, Terezi and Latula were sitting at a table covered with fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, beef with broccoli, egg rolls, and Latula's customary Mountain Dew, though Terezi didn't think that paired well with the rest of the meal.

"So," Latula asked through a mouthful of chow mein, "you ready to go back to school tomorrow?"

Terezi scoffed. "Not really. I mean, it'll be nice to see all my friends again, but the fact that Alternia Middle School is blending with Terra Middle School means that about half of my classmates won't know I'm blind, which always leads to vague staring and weird comments and people trying to over-correct themselves in an attempt to be sensitive. I guess Tavros gets it worse than me because he can actually see the way people look at him, but still. I just want to be treated like a normal girl."

"You've always been way cool about that."

"What do you mean always, it's only been like a year."

"Yeah but you never like, became your disability. You were always wildly independent growing up and you still are. Like, you don't let it stop you. That's a super-cool thing about you, sis."

Terezi suspected Latula was being more self-deprecating than she was letting on. There was a note of morose-ness in her voice, and she felt like it was because Latula was pretty insecure. "I mean… it's just a thing. I learned to live with it." Terezi stood up, starting to put some stuff in the refrigerator. They would live off the leftovers for a while, and it would make a nice surprise for their mother when she predictably got home from the office at 10pm.

"Yeah, I guess," Latula shrugged. Terezi heard her chair scoot out from the table and more things get shuffled around on the table. The two finished putting things away, and Terezi grabbed some of the chopped bell pepper, along with a container of chopped raw beef before going into her room, a good portion of which was taken up by the tank her pet, Pyralspite, was in. Pyralspite was the name Terezi had given her white dragon in the very first D&D campaign she was involved in, and she gave it to this Argentine Tegu because he, too, was albino.

"Pyralspite, you ready for dinner?" she cooed at him before throwing him the meat and veggies. A balanced diet was key for anyone, including 4-foot lizards. Okay, he wasn't 4 feet long yet, but he was a growing boy. When he was done eating, which Terezi concluded by hearing him rustle back into the fake foliage, she reached into the tank to show him some affection, which Pyralspite reciprocated by crawling up her arm. "Aww, I love you too, bud." She laid down carefully on her bed, letting Pyralspite rest on her stomach while she thought about the concept of being in high school. Terezi let out a small breath. It was bound to be either a really exciting year, or a really uneventful one.


	2. Scourge Sisters

Terezi woke up early when she heard the creaky floorboard on the second stair. She reached for her phone on the side table and held down the home button.

"Nora, what time is it?" she asked.

"The current time is 6:13 AM," Nora (the phone AI) answered in her slightly off-kilter voice. Terezi always thought it was a bit odd, how Nora wasn't quite monotone, like the programmers had quite purposefully tried to make it sound human. It was a little unsettling, but Terezi got the same impression from most vocalized programs. That "Microsoft Sam" feel was hard to get away from. Terezi turned over, groaning a bit, then began to roll out of bed, ignoring the goosebumps on her legs beneath her pj shorts as she slid into her dragon slippers and went downstairs, cane in hand.  
As aniticpated, Terezi found her mother, as evidenced by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, and the footsteps across the kitchen floor that were quickly followed by the tap-tap-taping of keyboard keys.  
"Mom, are you working already?" Terezi asked, her voice a bit raspy from sleep.  
"Mhm. I wasn't planning on heading into the office today, but figured I could still get some things done."  
"I didn't even see you last night."  
"I know, honey, I'm sorry," Rebecca answered. The creaky swivel of the chair told Terezi that she'd turned to face her. "Working on a really big case right now."  
"Mom, I'm just…" Terezi sighed. "I've been reading and everything says that stress is really bad for babies. I think you should take a break from work. And—"

"Terezi, it's fine, I'm not even in the second trimester yet. And it's decaf. Look, I know you're worried; I know you're excited to have a baby sibling."  
"Sister."  
"Don't assume!" Rebecca said with a laugh, though she was also hoping it would be a girl. Terezi grinned. "I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing, 'Rezi. Okay?"  
Terezi pursed her lips. "Alright, Mom."  
"Okay. Do you want some pancakes before I take you to school?"  
"Sure."

So they had breakfast, Latula joining them before too long, and then the girls got ready for school and headed off to Skaia High. There were a lot of conflicting sounds and smells, which made navigating a bit more difficult than it usually was, and Terezi wound up relying on her cane a bit more than usual. But on the way to her locker, Terezi caught the familiar scent of hair dye and frustration, and sure enough, Karkat's grumbling voice was nearby. Terezi swung her cane out and whapped him in the back of the head.  
"Ow, what the-!"  
"Karkles!" she grinned at him.  
"Hey Terezi. How was your summer?"  
" _Boring._ Mom's been working a shitton."  
"Really? Shouldn't she be on leave?" Finally, someone with some sense!  
"That's what _I've_ been telling her. But what do I know about having babies?" Terezi's thought was cut off by the exceedingly loud bell. She frowned. "Well… guess it's time for class." That really hadn't been enough time to catch up with Karkat, or harass him about dyeing his hair.  
"See you later, Ter," Karkat said, his footsteps beginning to move in the opposite direction from Terezi.

Terezi wasn't fully blind, but the most she could see was really just general blurs of color, tinted red by her glasses, and the general mass confusion regarding finding classrooms on the first day of school was only made worse by not actually being able to read the signs, and Terezi wound up having to stop and ask a few people if she was going the right way. Once she found her classroom, she found a seat near the end of a table, and then heard the squeaking of a wheelchair—she supposed it was Tavros, so she shifted over to make some room for him.  
"Hey, Tavros."  
"Hi."  
The teacher cleared her throat just then, garnering the class's attention, and Terezi heard the rustling of paper. The kid on her left tapped her on the shoulder and put something in her hand—a stack of paper—so she took one and passed the rest along to Tavros before the teacher spoke. "Good morning everyone, welcome to Skaia High! My name is Ms. Merrick and this is our World History class. Okay, now I've given you all a copy of the syllabus. Let's just go over that." Terezi squinted at the paper, then raised her hand. "Yes… Terezi?"  
"Do you have a copy of this in Braille?" she asked, wondering how on Earth administration hadn't told her there was a blind student.  
"Hmm?"  
"Ms. Merrick, I'm blind." Terezi cringed at the small bouts of laughter that rolled around the classroom.  
"Ah, right." Okay, so she did know. "I will take care of any accomodations you need. And for you, as well, uh, Tavros."  
"I'm uh, fine, thanks."

That was about how the rest of the day went; Terezi managing her way around to her classes and finding friends to join along the way. Her second period was Spanish, though she'd argued against having to take a foreign language if she couldn't read anything. The administration clearly didn't like having to make adjustments to graduation requirements even in these severe circumstances. And to make matters worse, Eridan was there. Okay, Terezi didn't have as much distaste for Eridan as the others did, but he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around. And then in her English class, Terezi met someone new. She'd plopped into the only available seat, set her binder on the desk, and then sniffed the room.  
"Ugh, why does high school smell like chalkboards and desperation?" she muttered, more to herself than anything.  
"Funny, I'd say it smells more like AXE poorly masking BO than anything," the kid sitting next to her said. Terezi turned towards where his voice came from. "Nice shades, by the way. Dig the red."  
Terezi raised a hand and fiddled with her glasses. "Oh. Thanks. I'm Terezi."  
"Cool. I'm Dave." And that was it. It was such an interesting interaction, though, and it did nothing but pique Terezi's curiosity about Dave. At the end of class, she spoke to him again.  
"Hey Dave, do you know where the gym is?"  
"No, but I'm about to find out. You have PE?" Terezi nodded. "'kay. Let's go, then." Terezi followed Dave through the hallways to the gym, and then she sat on the bleachers. "Oh shit," Dave said when they got there.  
"What?"  
"Oh. Nothing, I just gotta go chat with someone. Catch ya later, TZ."  
So PE was uneventful, aside from the fact that Eridan was there as well. Vriska was always so much better at dealing with his shit, which made sense, considering they "dated" in middle school. It didn't help that he overdid it with his cologne and had a whiny voice, attacking both of Terezi's stronger senses.  
Throughout lunch, Terezi could feel eyes on the back of her head, even if she couldn't place where they were coming from. Dave, she hoped. In such brief moments, there was something intriguing about him. He seemed like a cool guy. It was a real shame Terezi couldn't get a good look at him, especially since she used to be so good at gauging peoples' expressions. But of course, through most of the lunch hour, Vriska demanded Terezi's attention. All the kids were chattering about how their days had been going so far, interesting teachers and new students and the like, but Terezi kept her mouth closed. For one thing, several conversations were happening at once and Terezi was having a hard time picking a voice to follow.  
"'Rezi? Hey 'Rezi!" Vriska jostled Terezi a bit. "Are you listening to me?"  
"What? No, I wasn't, I'm trying to figure out who in this damn cafeteria is staring at me," Terezi muttered. Vriska looped her arm into Terezi's and began toting her off towards their next class, biology.  
"Whaaaaaaaat? What do you mean?"  
"You know when you can just _tell_ someone is looking at you?"  
"Mhm, well, it was probably Karkat, to be honest."

"Ha. Besides him."

Vriska paused. "Ya know, I did see some blond kid looking over at our table. He had shades on, though."  
"Hmm," Terezi pursed her lips, and kept shuffling along in the hallway alongside Vriska.

"Why, were you wondering if it was someone specific?"

"I thought… no. I just talked to this guy in my English class. He seemed cool."

Vriska paused in the hallway. "Terezi, do you have a cruuuuuuuush?"

Terezi nudged Vriska with her shoulder. "Ew, no, I just said he seemed cool. Can't a girl want to make some new friends?"

"Aw, are you replacing me?" Vriska said, but Terezi could hear her smile. "Anyway, speaking of boys, I hung out with Tavros last night." A door creaked open and Vriska led Terezi over to a lab station, both of them plopping their things on top of the counter.

Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I really just couldn't deal with staying with my mom all night so I left after dinner. He was being all weird and awkward about letting me use his sweater, like isn't that something you're _supposed_ to offer to the girl you're interested in, or is that one of Karkat's weird tropes? Whatever. He even fell out of his chair, what a lame ass. And then he mentioned something about school, and I just could not _believe_ Aranea didn't remind me school started today. Fucking ridiculous, right? Like, and now I have absolutely no supplies, just like, one pen and some scratch paper, so now I'm gonna have to make Aranea, or worse, _Mom,_ take me shopping today. Tavros offered me some extra stuff he had."

Vriska paused her story for a moment, and Terezi heard a voice she didn't recognize.

"Hey, can I sit here?" The voice was decidedly male, a touch nasally and higher pitched than Dave had been.

"Shit, dude, I'm not gonna stop you," Vriska said before continuing. The boy dropped his stuff onto the counter and clambered into the third stool. "Anyway, so I told him, 'don't be stupid, I don't need your charity.' Like, that boy is too nice for his own good, honestly."

Terezi shook her head. "And you're too stubborn and 'self-sufficient' for your own good," she answered Vriska.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, though. Oh, sorry, we're being rude, aren't we? I'm Vriska, this is my partner in crime, Terezi." Terezi shot a grin at the boy.

"My name's John!" he chirped back. Oh, there was so much optimism in his voice. It was a touch endearing.

At the end of class, Terezi turned back to Vriska. "Vris, where's the geometry classroom?"

"What? Let me see your schedule." Terezi flipped through her binder and then slid it over to Vriska. "Mm. B34. I think it's down this hallway to the left, past the second locker pavilion, and then… hm. I can't remember exactly which room, but that's definitely the B30s over there."

"Okay. I'll check the signs, then," Terezi answered, tucking her binder back into her bag. She followed Vriska's instructions to the best of her ability, and eventually found the right classroom, thankfully. Had anyone else asked Vriska for directions, they likely would have been sent on a wild goose chase. As she entered the room, she swore she heard Ampora's voice again—good God, what ethereal being did she piss off to have him in _half_ of her classes?—but then she heard Feferi as well and was a bit relieved. Feferi by far handled Eridan the best out of _anyone_ in the group, so Terezi left them to their business, instead choosing a seat near the front row. Geometry was something Terezi was surprisingly good at. She didn't need to be able to _see_ the numbers to understand them, so she took a good amount of pleasure in her last class of the day. Almost immediately upon getting out of class, her phone rang, Nora announcing that the caller ID said 'Latula'.  
"Hey Tules, what's up?" Terezi answered, shuffling through the busy hallway towards the pickup lane where her mother was supposed to be.

"Hey, tell Mom I'm going to Tuna's place today."

"Hey, as long as you guys aren't making out in our living room I really don't give a shit."

"Fuck off, Terezi, you're just jealous," Latula laughed. Terezi grinned.  
"Yeah right. See you later," she answered. Hoo boy, it was gonna be an interesting year.


	3. Coolkid

A few more weeks passed, and Terezi was increasingly curious about Dave. He spoke with very little genuine emotion, either being sarcastic or just a touch monotonous at times that it made it very difficult to parse his emotions, and Terezi's exchanges with him were usually brief, but a friendship had certainly been established. Terezi would slide Dave poorly drawn pictures in class and more often than not, Dave would make some ironic comic out of it. Not that Terezi could really read his comics, but that wasn't really the point. There was some odd humor Terezi found in it. And before too long, Terezi's lunch table with Aradia, Tavros, Sollux, Karkat, Nepeta, Kanaya, Vriska, Equius, Gamzee, Eridan, and Feferi—an already crowded table—was further populated with John, Jade, Dave, and Rose. This combination happened very suddenly one afternoon when Terezi heard John's nasally voice from across the cafeteria.  
"Hey, Karkat!" Terezi turned towards the voice a bit, Karkat grumbling from next to her.  
"I'm sorry, did I fucking invite you to sit here, Egbert?" Karkat growled.  
"Oh fuck no, you three?" That was definitely Dave's voice, a smooth tone punctuated just a bit with annoyance. "These are the pricks from my Spansih class."

"Come on, Dave, Karkat isn't so bad," John answered. Karkat jostled closer to Terezi to make room for the boys, John sitting on Karkat's other side and Dave wedging himself between John and Tavros, and then their voices, along with Rose (whose voice Terezi recognized from her P.E. class) and Jade (who Terezi happened to share her Geometry class with). As the new kids integrated better into the group, everyone opened up to them more—Karkat seemed to bond especially with Jade. Terezi liked Jade, if only because they had the similarity of not putting up with Karkat's self-deprecating bullshit, but they didn't talk much. No, as she expected, Terezi began bonding even more with Dave. And then she began to wonder if Vriska's teasing rang true— _did_ she have a crush on Dave? It sure was funny hearing how he and Karkat needled each other, but Terezi wasn't sure if it was exactly a crush, or if she was perhaps enjoying the fact that her budding friendship with Dave was making Karkat jealous. While she didn't think that was really in her nature, maybe Vriska's sense of entitlement and… well, somewhat vindictive nature was rubbing off on her. They _had_ been friends for ages, after all. And then, there was John. John was _so fun._ And by that, Terezi meant fun to antagonize. John talked about being the master of pranking, and Terezi intended to test that claim. There was something so entertaining about pushing John's buttons. It was the same laugh Terezi got out of aggravating Karkat. At any rate, Terezi was having fun with this new-found camaraderie between her and Dave, and as Homecoming flyers began to go up in October, Terezi was mulling over the idea of asking Dave to the dance with her. But first, she needed to start chatting with him outside of school, and she knew just who to ask.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GC: Hey, Karkles :]  
CG: How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?  
GC: And how many cane drubbings does it take to realize I dont give a shit?  
GC: Besides, I thought you liked nicknames.  
CG: That was before I got called "Karkitty" approximately 8000 times a day.

Oh yeah, the thing with Nepeta. The 'thing' with Nepeta was that her mom and Karkat's dad were an item, but that had _no_ bearing on the completely obvious crush Nepeta had had on Karkat for literal years, and now that they were living together, Karkat was even more uncomfortable about the whole thing. And the cat puns. Wow, they were mildly unbearable.

GC: Oh, only 8000? Nepeta is cutting back.

CG: What the miserable shit do you want.

Terezi rolled her eyes. _Sooooo_ cynical.

GC: Cant a friend bother a friend just to talk?  
CG: Not you.  
CG: It's always some kind of horseshit whimsical buttfuck with you.  
GC: Oh, shit, thats a new one.  
CG: Seriously though, did you need something or are you just being a pain in the ass like usual?  
GC: Just being a pain in the ass, hehe  
CG: Ugh.  
GC: Actually, do you have Daves chumhandle?  
CG: Okay, 1—why the fuck would I have that? It would imply wanting to talk to that insipid shitfisted douchebag more than absolutely necessary.  
CG: And 2—why the fuck do you want to talk to him?  
GC: I dont know, he seems cool  
CG: He's not cool, he's the total opposite of cool.  
CG: He's an insecure dipshit hiding behind shades and levels of fake irony.  
GC: AS if YOU dont hide your insecurities, Mr. White Christmas.  
CG: That's totally different!  
CG: How the fuck would you even know? You're blind.  
GC: I have my ways :]  
CG: Go bother someone else.  
GC: Mkay  
GC: Bye, Karkles

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

Ah yes, Karkat's ultimate "secret"—his white hair. Despite all the effort Karkat went to dyeing it dark brown throughout pretty much his entire childhood (and therefore his entire friendship with Terezi), she still managed to figure it out, mainly because he wasn't always attentive to how long his roots got. And because she wasn't _one hundred_ percent blind, Terezi did manage to notice the blurry smudges of color when his light hair started poking back in. Karkat was blithely unaware of this and Terezi intended to keep it that way.

Despite Karkat's frustration with Dave, Terezi was insisten on pursuing a friendship, and managed to get Dave's chumhandle from Jade, who was _way_ more cooperative about it and even typed it into Pesterchum for Terezi. Later that afternoon, Terezi started bugging him.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] has requested to be chums with turntechGodhead [TG]

turntechGodhead [TG] has requested chum request from gallowsCalibrator [GC]

TG: sup  
TG: which one of you lame assholes is this  
GC: Its Terezi :P  
TG: oh hey  
TG: yeah jade told me she gave you my chumhandle but cant really tell with you guys sometimes  
TG: youre pretty much the coolest one out of your group anyway so  
GC: Hehehe thank you  
GC: I like the color of your words  
GC: Bright and cherry red like blood  
TG: that is all kinds of fucked up  
TG: why you gotta be so weird right after i called you cool  
TG: hey weird question  
TG: whats the deal with you and karkat  
TG: he your boyfriend or something?  
GC: Pfffffff yeah right  
GC: Well ok  
GC: I mean  
GC: Its been sort of complicated with him  
TG: ok asking for an explanation on that is pretty much the opposite of what im doing  
TG: and interesteds the opposite of what im being  
GC: You just asked!  
GC: Smart  
GC: Ass  
GC: :P  
GC: Actually hes kind of smartassy like you now that I think about it  
GC: But you seem calm instead of shouty all the time  
GC: Also you dont hide the color of you hair like a stupid baby  
TG: ok that remark was almost as boring as it was weird  
GC: Oh pipe down Dave, I am trying to pay you a compliment!  
GC: I am holding out an olive branch here, and you are giving it a good firm sass grab  
TG: haha

GC: One day you will rue all this sass you have dished  
TG: define one day  
GC: It sounded a lot cooler in my head

Their banter sort of went on like that, and Terezi found it very easy to talk to Dave. The more this went on, the more Terezi kind of genuinely _did_ want to ask him to Homecoming. That was, until Dave actually talked to her about a Homecoming-related issue during gym class.  
"Hey, so…" Terezi turned towards his voice.  
"What?"  
"Just a heads up, Ter, 'cause I don't really know what's going on, but Karkat's gonna try to ask you to Homecoming."  
"Oh God," Terezi groaned a bit. She just knew Karkat was going to try and do something big, and convince her to try going out with him again. His trashy romcoms taught him all that garbage. "Okay. Good to know."  
"You said it was complicated between you two."  
"Yeah, well now it boils down to a one-sided crush."  
"Mm."

Terezi's thoughts lingered in her mind for a moment, and it was just a moment too long of thought, as before she could say anything, the gym teacher started them on their warmups, and Dave had to rush away. But naturally, the topic of Homecoming and its impending presence didn't leave the group that easily. Terezi wasn't really sure how to feel at the prospect of a high school dance, but she wasn't opposed to going. Feferi, on the other hand, was _all about it._ And so, naturally, she was the one who brought it up when the dance was mere weeks away.

"Boys, who're you all gonna ask? Or have you already?" This was met with what could best be described as a loud silence, a telling silence. Terezi was just glad that she wasn't the one being forced to answer the question, because she _knew_ that wouldn't fare well. Gamzee was the one to break the silence.  
"I ain't asking nobody, gonna go with my motherfuckin' self and have a good time."  
Feferi faltered a bit. "O-oh. Um, what about you, Karkat?"  
"Don't put me on the spot!" This reaction sent a pit of embarrassment and awkwardness into Terezi's gut. "What about you, princess? Who are you going with?"

"Oh, I already told Eridan I would go with him."  
"Not worth the time," Vriska's sharp voice berated Eridan. "He's such a fucking pain; I can't believe I ever dated him."

"Because you were so _fuckin' peachy,_ right, Vris?!" Eridan shouted back at her.

Eridan, hush," Feferi said. "He's not so bad. Anyway… what about you, John?"  
"I, uh…" John tripped over his words, adding a bit of a stammer to his nasally voice. He was interrupted by another.  
"John and I will be attending together. He never got the nerve up to ask anyone, and neither did I," Rose said, pointedly.  
"'s cool, bro," Dave answered, clearly vocalizing a reassurance to his friend. "I wasn't gonna ask anyone to be my date either. I'm with Gamzee on that one." Oh. He didn't want to go with anyone? Well… fair enough. Terezi didn't want to put him in an awkward position. It didn't seem like it was fair to him; he'd either have to say yes and be uncomfortable or say no. So, guess that was out. Gamzee fist-bumped Dave from across the table.  
"As much fun as a date would be, I thought we could all just go as friends!" Terezi heard Jade's chipper voice say. "But I'm still curious; who would you ask, Tavros?" Even without being able to see the red flush spread across his cheeks, Terezi could tell Tavros was wildly embarrassed by being focused on like that.  
"Uhm… I was going to ask… um… this girl, from English class. Uh, how about you, Equius?"  
"I was… going to ask someone. But, if she says no I will go with Nepeta," Equius said, and Nepeta immediately answered.  
"You butt! I'm your second choice?"  
"I believed that was our arrangement…"  
"Naw, it is. I'm just teasing."

"Hey Tules," Terezi said when both the girls got home from school that afternoon, "what would you do if someone was going to ask you to Homecoming but you knew they meant it in a romantic way and you weren't interested?"  
Latula raised an eyebrow. "That's oddly specific; is this about Karkat?"  
"Yeah"  
"What happened to Dave?"  
"I am… not sure. Maybe I was just overthinking things, because I am not sure that I _do_ have a crush on him. More like he's another cool friend? But he said today that he doesn't really want a date to Homecoming."

"So just go with Karkat."  
"Ugh, but he's going to be so _weird_ about it! If I say yes to him then he's going to think I totally want to be his girlfriend and I'm not—ugh! I don't wanna do that. He and I are better off staying platonic."  
"Hmm," Latula pondered for a moment. "Maybe you should ask him, before he does something over the top. And make your terms clear."

"Hmm."

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GC: Hey Karkles

CG: Ugh, are we going to go over this again?

GC: Just accept that you will always be Karkles within my heart

CG: At least I'm in someone's heart.

GC: Hey

GC: Do you wanna go to Homecoming?

CG: GOD yes.

CG: I'm so glad you asked before Nepeta did.

CG: That would be weird.

GC: Clarification

GC: This is not a date

CG: Are you doing this just to take the piss out of me?

CG: Who tipped you off?

GC: Karkat, in all seriousness I will admit we had something but I appreciate our friendship so much more than us dating

GC: And I know you were planning something ostentatious and flashy just like in all your trashy romcoms

GC: But I am just not that kind of girl

CG: It was Strider, wasn't it?

GC: Maybe dont wander in hallways announcing your plans to the world :P

CG: That douchewad.

GC: So is that a yes or what?

CG: Fucking…

CG: Yeah, just feeling like a colossal idiot.

GC: Well what else is new!

CG: Fuck you, acceptance rescinded.

GC: Seriously?

CG: No. I don't know.

CG: Fuck it. Yeah. I'll go with you.

GC: Awesome.

CG: Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go deal with an incompetent asswipe.

GC: Ooh, sounds like a blast!

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]


	4. Love Triangle

"So you just ended up asking Karkat to the dance?" Vriska asked, her voice drenched in disbelief. Terezi shrugged as Vriska slurped her drink through the straw.

"Yeah, I mean the more I think about it, the more I don't really want to get sucked into drama with Dave. And me asking Karkat was a preemptive strike. I made it perfectly clear that this was not a romantic gesture, okay?"  
"Alright, geez. You don't have to get so defensive."  
"Sorry." It wasn't entirely true that Terezi was over that brief crush on Dave; in fact she sort of still had one, but she had the feeling that there was certainly going to be some sort of problem with Dave, or with her, or with Karkat. She twirled the straw in her milkshake.  
"Well, whatever. Watch us all end up going as a group anyway. Hey, we should go dress shopping together, Ter. I gotta find something to match with Tavros, and it's either I go with you or I go with Aranea."  
Terezi furrowed her brow. "Uh, not to be a buzzkill, Vris, but… did Tavros even ask you to the dance?"

"Well, not exactly, but you saw how embarrassed he was when Feferi asked! Come on, you know 'some girl in my English class' is code for 'Vriska'."  
"I guess you two do have a history," Terezi conceded, though not fully convinced.  
"What're you two talking about?" Terezi heard her mother ask, having returned from grocery shopping with Latula.  
"Homecoming," Vriska answered. "Thanks for the drive-thru, by the way."  
"Oh, no problem. Are you sleeping over tonight, Vriska?" It wasn't uncommon for Vriska to crash at the Pyropes' place. She didn't seem to care for her mother much, and she and Aranea were… very different people.  
"Yeah, I think I'm staying tonight." It didn't really surprise Terezi that Vriska was avoiding her family; if she had Vriska's family, she'd avoid them too.  
"Do you guys want to go dress shopping for Homecoming tomorrow?" Latula asked. "My dress from last year doesn't fit anymore."  
"Yeah!" Vriska exclaimed. "I was just suggesting the same thing to Terezi." Terezi rolled her eyes. She knew Vriska was enjoying getting her way. What Vriska and Latula seemed to be failing to understand was that Terezi could not possibly care less what she wore to Homecoming, because being fashionable and looking good really didn't matter to someone who literally couldn't see if she was being fashionable or looked good. But still, she was somewhat resigned to it, and Vriska, Latula, and Terezi went dress-shopping the next afternoon. While Latula and Vriska were mulling over what dress to buy, Terezi received a message from Feferi on Pesterchum.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

CC: Hey Ter!  
CC: I was thinking of having like a Homecoming get-together and doing pictures and stuff before the dance, what do you think?  
GC: I think  
GC: That sounds like fun!  
GC: Maybe it will keep things from being horrendously awkward.  
CC: Oh? What do you mean?  
GC: Just like with some of the """date""" stuff.  
CC: Oh yeah I see!  
GC: So yeah, I'm down.  
CC: Yay!  
CC: Okay cool, I will start getting people together then.  
GC: Am I the first one you asked?  
CC: I floated the idea by Eridan, and he didn't seem so shore, but I think it will be fun so he's just going to have to toughen up.  
GC: Alright, cool. Looking forward to it.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC]

Terezi's attention was jostled away from her phone as Vriska grabbed her shoulders excitedly.

"Ter, what do you think of this one?" Terezi squinted at her friend, who was mostly a deep blue blur. She reached out to feel the material of the skirt. It was soft, but smooth, and the bottom was lace arranged to look like spiderwebs. She furrowed her brow and paused for a moment.  
"What's the neckline?"  
"V-neck. Not too plunging," Vriska answered casually. She'd moved further away, presumably closer to a mirror.  
"I'm sure it looks great," Terezi answered.  
"Aw, thanks! So what about you?"  
"What?"  
"Aren't you going to pick out a dress?" Vriska asked. Terezi rolled her eyes a bit, ready to make a snappy retort about being blind, but then her attention was caught by something red and teal and very glittery. She moved towards it, once again reaching out to feel the fabric. The bodice was all done in red rhinestones and jewels, and the bottom felt like organza or tulle or somesuch. It was incredibly tacky, and Terezi _loved_ it, simply based on the texture and blurs of color.  
"Vriska, Vriska, come here!" she called, and she heard Vriska shuffle over, still in the dress she'd been trying on. "I'm gonna get this one."  
"Terezi, that thing is tacky as _fuck."_  
"I _know,_ that's why it's so great." Terezi couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling Vriska was shaking her head. She elected to ignore this, and buy the dress that _she_ found most appealing—wasn't that what you were supposed to do?—even though moments after first seeing it, Vriska also tried to get Latula to talk Terezi out of the decision. But Terezi was just as capable of being stubborn as Vriska was. Vriska seemed to have forgotten it in the next few days, because their next conversation was, once again, about Vriska and Tavros going to the dance together.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Holy shit, Ter,  
AG: You're never gonna believe what Tavros pulled.  
GC: God can't you leave that poor boy alone.  
GC: What now  
AG: LOL, he totally embarrassed himself trying to ask Jade to the dance.  
GC: I thought you said he was going to ask you  
AG: Yeah well  
AG: It's cool with me if he wanted to go with Jade  
AG: Not like she'd give him a chance anyway  
AG: And like I said, it sounds like Fef is hosting some big group thing  
AG: So everyone's gonna pair off and of course Tavros is going to gravitate back towards me

Vriska was so _fucking_ sure of herself. Terezi had no idea where Vriska got the idea that she and Tavros were, like, _an item,_ but she definitely had her convictions about it, and Tavros was too… not a coward, but… too _unsure_ to stand up to Vriska, so he just kind of took her shit, and honestly? It was getting a little bit painful to watch.

GC: Wait so what did Jade say?  
AG: Oh it was this huge dorky misunderstanding  
GC: Okay so what are even these "pairings?  
GC: Do you know?  
AG: Tav and me, you and Kar, Fef and Eridan…  
GC: Sollux and Aradia  
AG: Oh Jesus Christ are those two going to get their shit together?  
GC: I don't know, hopefully.  
AG: Anyway  
AG: Nepeta and Equius.  
GC: Which leaves Kanaya and Gamzee  
GC: Which is NOT a thing that is going to happen.  
AG: Yeah, I mean it's gonna be like anything else; it's going to be weird and awkward and someone's feelings are going to get hurt because this is HIGH SCHOOL and there can't be one night where we all have a good time without some kind of disaster.  
GC: Ya know,  
GC: I hate that you're right  
GC: But we can make the best of it.  
AG: Ha, sure.

AG: Sounds like something Fefwould say  
GC: Ugh so cynical :P  
AG: As if you're not just as cynical as I am!  
GC: I am not cynical, I am realistic  
AG: Pfffffffft, whatever  
AG: See ya later, scourge sis ::::P

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Vriska sure did make it hard to be friends with her sometimes. It was through a lot of scrutiny and forgiveness that Terezi managed to stick by Vriska's side, and even that was seeming to wane, particularly when they examined how Vriska treated Tavros. Still, Terezi tried not to think about it, about as much as she tried not to think about the """feud""" between Karkat and Dave, which consisted mostly of them calling each other rude names. With Dave, it seemed like he was joking, but when Karkat did it, there was a genuine sense of vitriolic frustration. And, of course, the boys couldn't leave each other alone, even during Homecoming pictures. Terezi started the the afternoon chatting with Dave, as she was one to do, but Karkat's immediate frustration upon seeing Dave sort of set everything off on the wrong foot.  
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Karkat grumbled.

"What?" Dave asked.

"Are you seriously wearing your fucking shades to _Homecoming?_ Why do you even wear those things?"

"It's none of your goddamn business, Vantas," Dave murmured, his voice darker than Terezi had ever heard him. Karkat stalked off for a moment, and Terezi patted Dave on the shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" Terezi asked. Dave shuddered a bit, a flinching movement passing through him at Terezi's touch.

"Yeah, I just…" Dave paused. "I'm fine. Lost my cool for a sec."

"Are you sure, it's—"

"It's fine, TZ." Terezi picked up on the levity and playful tone returning to Dave's voice, so she decided to let it go for the moment. Besides, it was just about time for pictures, and Terezi was ready to pose with Karkat. It was going to be fun to make his Homecoming pictures look silly and dumb and make him actually have a good time for a change. Dave waved her off and strolled over to join John, Rose, and Jade.

So they took pictures, and they went to dinner, and then it was time for the dance. If there was one thing Terezi had, it was a good ear, and also, a good sense of rhythm, and she had an absolute blast, despite Karkat's initial grouchiness. But once she pulled him onto the dance floor, Karkat seemed to lighten up a bit. There was almost even—gasp—a _smile_ in his voice! And then, when the music slowed down a bit, he was the one to take Terezi's hand and pull _her_ onto the dance floor. He spun her around a few times and Terezi let out a laugh before Karkat paused.

"Mind if I cut in?" That was Dave's voice. Clearly, he'd recovered from whatever had been bothering him earlier.

"Actually, I do mind, you fuckjamming pungent shitmo—" Oh God, was Karkat going to answer _for_ her? Terezi cleared her throat to interrupt him.

" _I_ would love to dance, Dave." Terezi rapped Karkat's leg with her cane, telling him to move, and Dave took her hand. She had a feeling he was only doing this to get Karkat's goat.

"Are you only doing this to get his goat?" she asked.

"What? No."

"Dave, we are friends. You can be honest with me; it's not going to hurt my feelings." Dave let out a sigh. "Daaaaave, I promise it's fine."

"Okay, yeah, I think it's kinda cute when he gets mad. By the way, thanks for that 'Karkles' nickname; he hates it so much."

" _Yessss_ I'm so glad that caught on."

Dave hesitated to keep talking. "I wanna be straight-up here, TZ, but I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

Terezi pursed her lips. "If you're worried because I had feelings for you, then I promise that I am over them."

"Whoa, you had feelings for me?"

Terezi suddenly felt incredibly awkward. "Yes. But you didn't seem interested so I sort of… got over it…" This wasn't entirely true; Terezi was _working_ on getting over it. But it seemed like Dave needed someone to talk to, and she didn't want to deprive him of that because he was worried about making her uncomfortable; that hardly seemed fair.

"Okay well," Dave paused, letting out another sigh, "to be honest, I kind of meant to ask Karkat to dance? I think I… maybe have a crush on him." Terezi's hands clasped around Dave's arms in surprise.

"What!"

"I know, it's weird and all but, I don't know, it's something I'm still coming to terms with. I haven't really had feelings like this before, and I don't know what to do, and Karkat hates me anyway, so… ugh, god, I hate talking about this."

While Terezi was listening, she'd noticed something else, her fingers up against Dave's inner arms, and what she'd noticed was dozens of little cuts and healed-over scars; not in any kind of organization that indicated self-harm, but you could never be too careful with this things. "Dave… why are there so many scars on your arms?"

Dave immediately yanked his hands away from Terezi. "I think I… I need some air." And with that, footsteps darted towards the gym exit. Terezi took a moment to recover from the revelation, and, as the song ended, she attempted to make her way towards Rose, the only person she could think of to talk to about Dave. She squinted in the dimly lit (aside from strobe lights, which didn't help in the slightest) auditorium to find a platinum blonde and wine-red blob. After a moment, Terezi managed to pick out Rose's voice, paired with Kanaya's, and Terezi made her way towards their table.

"Rose… did you know Dave has scars all over his arms?"


	5. Good Cop, Bad Cop

Whatever happened after Terezi left Dave, she assumed it had something to do with Karkat, because Karkat's animosity seemed to fade just the slightest bit towards Dave. Of course, something _else_ seemed to have changed in Dave, as he wasn't being his usual chatty, sarcastic self, either. He got really awkwardly quiet around Karkat. Terezi didn't want to worry about the boys, she had her own problems. Her mother was about halfway through the second trimester, and while maternity leave hadn't kicked in yet (and wouldn't until about 29 weeks), it wasn't as if they wouldn't be fine with money. But apparently being a lawyer meant constant pursuit of justice, which was admittedly, something Terezi admired about her mother, but she also had no idea how she dealt with the amount of stress that came with that business. Well, Terezi supposed the other times her mother had been pregnant, her dad was around too. She was thinking about how to convince her mother to take a break besides blasting Hamilton at her when Dave seemed to notice.

"Hey, you alright, TZ?"  
Terezi glanced upwards at him. "Yeah, I just…hm." She paused for a moment, not sure whether it was a great idea to confide in Dave. Then again, they were supposed to be friends, and he had confided in her. "My mom is like, hella pregnant and she doesn't think she needs to stop working yet even though I can tell she's really stressed and I'm worried something's going to go wrong."

"I woudn't worry about it too much. I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"Do you really think adults always know what they're doing?" Terezi asked. This was more in reference to Dave having such injuries than about Terezi's mother, and judging by his mild silence, he knew this.

"Look, it's not what you think."

"I don't really care if it's what I think it is—the problem is that you've been hurt, and whether it's by you or your… guardian, your bro or whatever, it should probably stop. But I know you probably aren't going to listen to me; I'm not so self-righteous to think my words are 100 percent true and that I have a full understanding of the situation. I think you know what needs to happen and will make the correct judgement because you're smarter than I think people give you credit for."

"O-oh. That… wasn't really what I expected you to say."

"What did you expect me to say, pack your shit and run? Dave, please. I know that's not always an option."

"…I didn't want this to turn into a conversation about my shitty situation." Terezi raised an eyebrow. At least Dave _knew_ the situation was shitty.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then I can respect that." They were silent for a moment.

"Ok well just like… talk to your mom; tell her you're worried."

"Pfft. You think I haven't tried that?" Terezi sighed. Dave patted her gently on the shoulder, and she appreciated the little gesture of support. It was nice knowing there was someone in her corner, because all things considered, she didn't really want to talk to Vriska or Karkat about certain things, and this 'baby sister' thing was one of them; Vriska because she tended to be cynical about family because she had a shitty one and Karkat because he'd question why Terezi _wanted_ another sibling since he had so many.

That was truly a turning point in Dave and Terezi's friendship. While before, it had been a lot of goofing off and random inside jokes and laughing about pissing Karkat off, now it was that they were becoming each other's confidants, to the point where her mother began needling her about it.

"So what's the story with you and Dave?" she asked over dinner one evening. Terezi gagged on her drink.

" _Mooooom,_ we're just friends. Christ."

"Well, I don't know! It seems like you talk to him a lot."

"So?"

"I just—"

"Besides, he apparently has a crush on Karkat—TULES, do _not_ tell Kankri I just said that. Don't tell anyone I just said that," Terezi blurted, knowing Dave wasn't ready to talk about it with too many people. Latula wasn't super-gossipy, but since all her friends were the siblings of all of Terezi's friends, telling one person would let the whole thing get out of hand.

"Alright, alright. It's none of my business anyway." Latula was getting a bit down, and Terezi knew it was because Halloween was coming up. It was the anniversary of the freak accident that messed Mituna's brain up, and he and Latula had never really managed to celebrate the same way since. Terezi herself hadn't even been thinking about Halloween until Tavros brought it up at the lunch table one afternoon.

"Hey, guys, my parents are out of town, so I was thinking of, having a Halloween party, at my house maybe?" The moment Tavros started speaking with his sort of wavering, hesitant voice, especially about doing something that was probably against the rules at his house, Terezi knew what the immediate response was going to be, and she was proven correct when Vriska laughed derisively at Tavros.

"That's ballsy, Tavros. What happens if you get in trouble?"  
"Ummm, I don't know… Rufioh's in charge."  
"Ohhhhhhhh, no nosey neighbor babysitting this time?"  
"I haven't seen Mr. Boxcars around the last couple days. I think it should be fine."

Vriska took a sharp inhale, preparing to say something else, and then Terezi bumped her with her knee. Letting those two go at it wouldn't get them anywhere; in fact it would only remind Terezi that she and Vriska were only bound to grow apart. So instead, Terezi cut them off.

"That sounds really fun, Tavros. It's been a while since we all had a party," Terezi said. Despite speaking up to shut Vriska up, this was a genuine sentiment. Terezi loved having get-togethers with the group, and they hadn't really all been in the same place since the "End of Middle School" party back in June.

"I've been meaning to host more!" Feferi said. They usually had parties at her house due to the verifiable mansion provided by the Peixes fortune. "I think the holiday season will be better for parties at my house."

"Th- that's okay, Fef, you shouldn't have to host all the time," Tavros muttered, a note of embarrassment entering his voice. Terezi was having a hard time gauging everyone else's reactions, as they were providing little more than silence, except for Sollux.

"Halloween sucks, though," he murmured, halfheartedly hiding his disdain for the holiday. Terezi glanced towards the floor. She, Sollux, and Karkat were pretty much the only ones who understood the severity of Sollux's brother's problems, and of course that accident was central to Halloween. Terezi wasn't going to be the one to push it—not only was it not really her business, but if celebrating made him uncomfortable, Sollux didn't have to show up. She wasn't going to be the one to say something. But he changed his tune nigh immediately. "Ah—fine, sounds like a plan."

"Yeah?" Tavros grinned—Terezi could hear it in his voice. It was rare that Tavros had an idea so popular amongst the group. So, yeah, Halloween at Tavros' place. Cool. Shortly thereafter, Tavros realized Aradia wasn't at the table, and delegated the job of inviting her to Nepeta.

The afternoon before the party, Terezi got a message from Dave.

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

TG: you didnt tell anyone did you?

GC: About what?

TG: homecoming

TG: my uh

TG: you know

GC: Oh

GC: I mean just Rose

GC: But only because I thought she might try to help you

TG: ugh so thats why shes being so extra

TG: whyd you say anything

GC: It was like an instinct!

GC: I kind of panicked

GC: Look I already told you I trust you to make the right decision and I'm not going to push you into anything

TG: yeah and i can tell you think the right thing to do is bail on my bro

GC: Only if you are comfortable with that and feel safe enough to do it

GC: This really isn't any of my business and I'm sorry I butted in and told Rose

GC: It was a reflexive move I made out of shock

GC: But I have plenty of other things to worry about besides you yelling at me for trying to help so please don't be an asshole

GC: I am sorry, Dave

TG: yeah well

TG: i

TG: me too im being kind of a jerk

TG: sorry

TG: i just didnt need rose breathing down my neck about this

TG: and then i lost my temper and kinda yelled at kar about it too cause he wouldnt stop asking

GC: Well if you want to talk about it I am here

GC: But I won't make you say anything

TG: theyre not from me

TG: just

TG: for the record

TG: its my bro

TG: and i always just thought it was kind of normal the way he did things

TG: wanting me to be stronger and able to defend myself and shit

TG: but now im sort of starting to question it

TG: idk dude its weird

GC: Hmm…

TG: anyway so what else are you worried about

GC: Oh that

GC: My mom, mostly

GC: She's really pregnant but she won't stop working and I'm worried it could hurt the baby

TG: oh yeah right you mentioned that

TG: well hey im sure shes got it under control

TG: its not your job to worry about that shit youre supposed to be doing dumb high school stuff

GC: Yeah I guess you're right

GC: I'll try to have fun tonight

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

It wasn't easy for Terezi to coerce herself into stopping worrying and having a good time, so she laid on her bed and let Pyralspite lay on her chest for a while before digging through the closet to find her police officer costume from the year before, getting dressed just before Aranea came to pick her up. Terezi clambered into the back seat, Vriska grinning at her from the front seat.

"I take it the glorious pirate Mindfang has joined us?" Terezi asked, making the assumption that Vriska had finally made the pirate outfit her old D&D character, Mindfang, wore.

"She sure has. And I see you're donning the ol' cop deal." Terezi grinned back at Vriska.

"So off to the Nitrams, then?" Aranea asked, slowly pulling out of the driveway in front of Terezi's house. "It's kind of a shame Rufioh's busy, I know Horuss is bummed they're not spending Halloween together.

"Oh my _God_ , I really don't care about your friends' terrible relationships," Vriska scowled at her older sister, who scowled right back. "Actually, I wouldn't mind it if Rufioh were single, he's kind of attractive. Like a confident Tavros."

"Ignoring the fact that you're my sister, speaking about someone my age, I'm inclined to agree. He was always 'the hot one' of the group."

Terezi rolled her eyes. Conversations like this were always so weird.

Aranea dropped the girls off at Tavros' place, and they were the first to arrive, besides Aradia, who'd been helping Tav set up. The party was honestly pretty mellow, everyone just being around dancing and eating and talking and playing a couple games, and then Vriska pulled Terezi aside.

"Hey Ter, wanna help me set up a game?" Terezi raised an eyebrow. That sounded like code for "I'm scheming something."

"What kind of game?"

"Seven Minutes in Heaven. All I need you to do is write all the boys' names down and I will put them in your hat. And we can use my hat for the girls."

"How exactly do you expect me to do much writing?"

"Oh, duh. Color me embarrassed. Just give me your hat, then." Terezi still seemed unsure, but, yeah, seemed harmless enough. She nodded at Vriska and sat with her as she got to work, scrawling out sixteen names on little slips of paper, and when they were done, Vriska took the liberty of getting everyone's attention—everyone who was in the house, anyway. Terezi was aware of Sollux and Karkat lingering outside. "Hey, get those two dipshits in here," Vriska snipped just before turning the music down to herd the others into the next room. Terezi let out a sigh. She stutter-stepped her cane towards the back door, slid it open, and stuck her head out.

"Hey, guys, Vriska's starting another game," she said.

"So? Does she really need everyone's attention right now?" Karkat griped back at her.

"Apparently. Listen, it's just gonna be easier if you come in now." And then it kind of hit Terezi. The way Vriska was always trying to bully or coerce people into giving her what she wanted? The way she pushed their friends around? It was beginning to go from grating, to unbearable, and Terezi had a sudden fear that this specific friendship needed to come to an end, unless something changed. But before addressing this too specifically, Terezi walked into the other room with the rest of the group. As Terezi walked in behind Karkat, she heard the front door creaking closed and John's voice as he greeted Vriska. Maybe he would be the key changing Vriska—she seemed to have something of a crush on him. Terezi was pretty sure they'd even danced together at Homecoming while Tavros had disappeared. Still, Terezi took her place on the girls' side.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for 7 Minutes in Heaven!" Vriska announced.

"Vriska, please, this is so ridiculous," Sollux said.

"Shut your lispy mouth, asshat. You don't have to play, but there's always the chance for some alone time with the freaky girl of your dreams." Ooh. Yeah, there was that signature Vriska brashness. "I have taken the liberty of putting all the ladies' names into this hat, and all the boys into Terezi's. Tavros, if you would do the honors?" Everything seemed to slow down; Terezi could feel this was some sort of ploy to embarrass him.

"Um, Aradia…?" Tavros' wavering voice read. Oh… maybe Terezi was wrong about that, then. She still felt like something was going on, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. A moment later, Vriska read out Equius' name, and the smirk on her face was audible. Everyone sort of started to dissipate from the room, except for Nepeta, and Tavros had pulled Vriska outside to have a word for a moment, so Terezi did the only thing she could think of, and that was to overlook Vriska's antics and spend some time with her other friends. This mysterious scheming plan of Vriska's would best be solved another day.


	6. The Cycle of Revenge

Despite not _wanting_ to think about Vriska, Terezi couldn't help but think about Vriska, especially since as the party started to wind down, the kids put a movie on, and Terezi could only listen as it played. Terezi and Vriska had a messy history, though in all honesty, things didn't get bad until Tavros "fell" down the stairs after a D&D match at Vriska's house, and even though he would always say it was an accident, pretty much everyone could put two and two together and figure out that Vriska pushed him. When Aradia and Terezi talked about the situation, Aradia said something about summoning spirits in a fit of anger and desire for revenge, but Terezi insisted on taking care of it herself. But what was really sticking out in Terezi's mind was Vriska's revenge against her; the blinding incident. See, Terezi wasn't _always_ blind. In fact, she'd only been blind for just over a year. But her eyes had never worked _quite right_ , either. Terezi knew she'd been born with congenital anirdia—a condition that affected the iris and caused some light sensitivity—and in the summer before eighth grade, not long after Vriska was fitted with her prosthetic, the girls decided to have a good old-fashioned California beach day.

Terezi tended to just lounge on the beach, but Vriska was splashing around in the water trying to get her attention.

"Hey 'Rezi! Get your lame ass out here!"

Terezi squinted, glancing up to see Vriska waving at her from the water with one arm, her other shoulder carrying nothing but a stump that ended quite abruptly with a load of scar tissue. Other people seemed to be giving Vriska a wide berth, whether it be from her stump arm or the wounds from her eye or just her general attitude, but Terezi started to feel a little bad about the situation, so she got up from where she'd been laying, and with a light sigh, traipsed into the water towards Vriska. Vriska grinned as Terezi waded closer to her, and then, upon catching someone else's startled and upset expression, Vriska's enthusiasm faded.

"Ugh, I wish that people wouldn't look at me like that," Vriska murmured. Terezi frowned, her face fading into a pitying expression. Vriska glanced sharply upwards at her. "I wish _you_ wouldn't look at me like that."

"What?"

"You, with that pathetic little frown on your face." Vriska's voice was escalating quickly. "You know this is all _your_ fault, right? If you had just—"

"My fault? If you hadn't pushed Tavros down the stairs—"

"You can't prove I did anything!"

"If you hadn't pushed Tavros down the stairs," Terezi repeated, "no one would have had any reason to hurt you."

"So this was all about avenging _Tavros?!"_

"Vriska, I—" Terezi paused, and then let out a sigh. "Don't you know how sorry I am for that by now? I'm not trying to pity you or feel bad just because I think I ought to feel bad. I have felt bad about that since it happened. I… I'm sorry." Vriska grew silent for a moment. Terezi took another deep breath. "I was mad. I was trying to… I dunno, bring justice, I guess." Still silence. "Look, you and I agreed we'd still be friends. I want to be friends with you. I want to have a good time today. It's up to you, Vris."

And with that, Terezi retreated to the beach again, plopping her sunglasses back on before laying down on the towel and promptly falling asleep underneath the afternoon sun.

When Terezi woke up, everything was alarmingly bright. Her sunglasses were gone, and her weak eyes… the sun was bright and just overhead, and before she could really put together what had happened, everything around her dimmed and blurred into nothing more but little smudgy blobs of color.

This was the incident running through Terezi's mind as _The Corpse Bride_ played, and she began to wonder why she _did_ fight so hard for a friendship with Vriska. They had never been good for each other, not since all those incidents, all right after each other. And Terezi had tried so hard to pretend everything would be okay. After everything that had happened, was Vriska's friendship really, _really_ worth the trouble? Terezi was jostled out of her thoughts by everyone beginning to move around as the movie ended. Dave was the first to speak.

"Welp, thanks for the party, man," he said.

"Yeah, I had fun, Tavros!" John added.

"Are you guys… leaving?" Tavros asked. Immediately, Terezi could feel some dregs of disappointment radiating off of Karkat. John, Rose, Dave, and Jade explained they had to go and began to shuffle out and Feferi mentioned her curfew and followed behind closely, and then there were 11. Terezi's ears pricked as Karkat let out a sigh, so she swung her cane upwards and poked him in the back of the shoulder, letting out a laugh as he spun around.

"Having a dilemma?" she asked, grinning widely at him.

"No," he said, point blank, and swatted her away.

With so many things chewing at her mind, Terezi was surprised she fell asleep so easily on the floor of Tavros' guest room.

In the morning, Latula showed up to take Terezi and Vriska home. As Terezi climbed into the front seat, she remembered how Tavros had pulled Vriska outside just after the whole 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' thing, and her curiosity got the better of her.

"So what were you talking to Tavros about?" Terezi asked.

"Huh?"

"Last night. You two went into the front. What were you talking to him about?"

"Oh," Vriska said, and then she laughed a bit. "So get this; that whole thing? Was rigged." Terezi's mouth fell open a bit. "Equius asked me if I could help get him a chance with Aradia, and I kinda owed him a favor for the whole… you know. Arm thing. So I kinda cheated."

Terezi was formulating her words for a moment. She _knew_ something was fishy with that whole thing. "Wait, so you made it so those two were in there on purpose? And Tavros was… what, calling you out?"

"Heh, yeah. Thinks he has some kind of authority over me or something."

"Well he was right to call you out, you know."

"You can't _seriously_ tell me you're on his side with this."

"Yes! I am!" Then it was Vriska's turn to let her mouth drop. "Vriska, you can't keep messing with peoples' emotions like this. You wonder why none of our friends like you, it's because you pull this kind of shit _constantly._ And I've tried so hard to defend you, to justify your actions so I don't feel guilty about defending you, and the more I think about things, the more I think I'm kind of done with that too. Karkat tried to tell me for so long, but I didn't get it. But he's right. You're dangerous, and I think I'm done."

Terezi's speech ended with remarkably good timing, as Latula was just pulling up to the Serket home, her lips pursed, saying nothing about the fight between Terezi and Vriska. She had no desire to butt in, especially between these two headstrong girls.

"You know what, Terezi? Fine. If you don't think I'm tolerable, or worth being around, or _whatever,_ then FINE. I don't need to be a good person and I don't need you to think that I'm 'worth defending'. Terezi says I'm morally corrupt and a bad influence so it must be true! _Fiiiiiiiine!_ I'm done too!" Vriska grabbed her backpack and hopped out of the back seat of the car, slamming the door behind her. Terezi's strength immediately withered, and she knew Latula could tell. The sisters were silent for a moment, idling in the Serket driveway.

"Are you alright?" Latula asked, looking gently over at Terezi.

"Yeah, let's just go," Terezi muttered. The truth was she wanted to talk to someone about it, but not have Latula hear, which was always difficult given the fact that Terezi had to dictate every text she sent to Nora. So she waited until they got home, went up to her room, laid Pyralspite on her chest as a comfort, and then mulled everything over. She couldn't message Karkat, he'd only be glad he was finally proven right about the Terezi/Vriska friendship.

"Nora, message turntechGodhead."

" _Messaging turntechGodhead."_

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

GC: Dave are you available? Can I call you about something?  
TG: kinda tied up at the moment  
TG: whats up  
GC: I kinda… cut off my friendship with Vriska  
TG: oh shit  
TG: well if you really need to talk like not over text then i can call later  
GC: No dont worry about it  
GC: If you are busy I can just talk to my mom but  
GC: Idk just dont worry about it  
GC: What are you tied up with at the moment?  
GC: If its any of my business  
TG: oh  
TG: its just  
TG: im at johns  
TG: some shit happened last night  
GC: OH  
GC: Ok definitely call me later then  
GC: If you want to talk about it that is  
TG: yeah maybe  
TG: theres a lot going on rn but theres also a lot I dont totally feel comfy sharing with john so i probably will  
TG: thanks  
GC: What are friends for?

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] 

Contrary to what she'd told Dave, Terezi did _not_ go talk to her mother about the situation. She didn't talk to Karkat, or Kanaya, or Latula. Instead, she just laid on her bed and ran her hand down Pyralspite's spine while he made little chirping sounds of affection. After a while, Terezi carried him downstairs. She plopped him into her lap as she sat at the barstool, and then she reached across the counter, grasping for the bowl of grapes that she _knew_ was out, where was it? Ah, there. She grabbed a handful of grapes and then laid her palm out in front of Pyralspite, his little flicking tongue tickling her hand as he ate them. Well, as long as that lizard liked her, Terezi supposed things weren't all that bad.


	7. Latula

Latula watched in dismay as Mituna fell off his skateboard yet again, and he smacked his hands against his helmet. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he shouted, watching the board roll away, and then he turned to Latula. "Ahhh I can't do it, Tulip, I'm sthoooooo… stupid…" Latula took a breath. She loved Mituna, there was no question about that, but it was a bit difficult to… deal with him sometimes. Latula paced over and linked her arm through his, putting a light smile on as she helped him stand up.

"Come on, Tuna, you can do it, babe." She pecked him on the cheek and then went after the skateboard, digging it out of where it had crashed into a bush. Supportive girlfriend, she reminded herself in her head, and then had a spurt of anxiety about the fact that she even had to remind herself about that. "Okay, shake it off, Tules," she muttered to herself, and returned to Mituna with his skateboard in hand. She knew he could skate; it was part of how they fell in love, so she handed him the board. "Alright, Mituna, try again." He looked up at her, a confused glint in his eyes.

"Tula, I… don' wanna fall anymore."

"Come on, babe, you got this," Latula said again, feeling a genuine smile spread across her face. He really was so endearing sometimes. A determined expression dawned on Mituna's face.

"Ack- you're right I c-c-can do this!" Latula grinned watching her boyfriend light up with confidence, and then immediately upon getting back on his board, he fell again and his face crumpled. "AHHHHH! Ah! I'm… disappointing you, Tulip." No, he couldn't put that on her. "I'm just so…" Don't say it. If he said it, Latula was going to lose it. She couldn't stand that Tuna got so down on himself. That gut-wrenching sadness and fear and a bolt of anxiety wracked through her. "…retar—"

"Radical!" Latula interjected, little angry, frustrated tears starting in her eyes. "You're radical, Mituna. I…" She began to dissolve into her tears a little more, and she looked down at the street. After a moment, she saw Mituna's shoes next to hers, and felt his hand on her shoulder. After another moment, he said something.

"Tulip, don't cry. Please don't cry. I'm sorry." Latula sniffled, trying to pull herself together. Mituna seemed to have collected himself from his own outburst, and he tugged her closer into a hug. "I'm sorry I screw up so much," he whispered. Latula sniffled again.

"You don't screw up, babe. I love you," she said, smiling lightly through her tears.

"I love you too, Tulip. Can we go?"

Latula let out a light sigh. Part of her missed how Mituna used to be, and maybe that was why she wanted him to be able to skate again. "Yeah… let's just go to my house."

"This skate park is dumb anyway.:

A million thoughts were running through Latula's head on the drive home; how she missed the old Mituna, but she still loved him, but being with him was so hard sometimes, but she really shouldn't think that; that would make him feel like he's a burden, but what about her problems? No, she couldn't make things about herself. But maybe she needed to be by herself? What would things be like if they broke up? But Latula couldn't do that to him, and she'd miss him too much anyway… Mituna's voice shattered the glass cage of anxiety closing in around Latula's brain.

"Tulip? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Tuna… everything's fine," she lied. "I… I'm fine." Latula felt his eyes on her for a moment. "Hey, Tulip, let's turn on some jams." He reached for the stereo knob and started bouncing along to whatever the newest _Walk The Moon_ song was, but the noise just felt like static in Latula's head. She flicked it back off.

"Sorry," Mituna muttered, and a flash of guilt went through her. She reminded herself to take deep breaths, and let herself relax for the rest of the drive. When they got to her house, it was empty.

"Looks like Mom is still working," Latula muttered to herself. "Not that I'm surprised." She was beginning to see Terezi's point about their mother overworking herself. Mituna paused at the threshold to kiss Latula on the cheek, and she smiled and took his hand in hers. "Terezi, I'm home!" she called out. "Mituna's here too!" She tossed the keys on the side table and plopped onto the couch, Mituna following suit, and the house was oddly silent. "Terezi?" Latula called out again. "Maybe she's with Karkat or something." Latula wasn't one to worry about her sister; Terezi was incredibly self-sufficient.

"Sthweet! Then we have the place to ourselves," Mituna cheered, leaning over to kiss Latula on the cheek again. And then again, small, light kisses. Latula giggled, tipping back onto the couch as Mituna crawled over her, planting tiny kisses all over her face and neck and shoulders, and when he leaned back for a moment, Latula reached up and pushed his messy bangs out of his face, where they'd been covering his eyes. There were still scars around his temples, but in that moment he was so bright and excited and _happy,_ and Latula felt it too, pulling him closer to her and kissing him deeply. After a moment, they both sat back up and Latula turned the TV on, switching over to Netflix.

"So… Tulip," Mituna said after a while, "I… was thinking."

Latula laughed a bit. "A very dangerous habit."

"Tulaaaaa, I'm being serious!" Latula glanced over at him, curious, and then paused the show for a moment.

"What is it?"

"Well. You and I have been dating for… like a super-long time, right? And I just, ah, thought that…" Latula looked at him eagerly as he thought over his words. "Agh."

"What?"

"I want… us to… I love you, Tulip. And I wanna… this is, this is so hard. Words are hard."

Latula reached over, placing her hand gently on Mituna's cheek. "Shh, it's ok, my love." She wanted him to know he could take his time; there was no pressure to figure things out. Mituna paused for a moment, his cheeks lightening to a slight pink as he clasped his hand on top of Latula's.

"I want you… to be my first." Latula's first emotion was a slightly shocked surprise that jolted through her heart. "First everything. I- I- I… you were my first kiss! My first, first love! And…. ugh. I d-don't… know if that came out right." The slight pink Latula had seen in his cheeks was now an aggressive red. Latula blinked at him, this whole thing seeming to have come out of nowhere.

"Mituna, has Cronus been giving you shit about this?"

"What? N-no! I… well. Yes. But that doesn't mean it's not true. Cronus is… a shit head." Oh boy. Maybe Latula shouldn't have mentioned that name. "I don' know why he hates me so much. I feel like… that's wrong? He… shouldn't… I din't do anything to him"

What had happened was obviously beyond Mituna's control, but Cronus still lashed out at him because they _did_ used to be so close, a myriad of inside jokes and intense conversations and… well, things that Mituna didn't remember or understand. Cronus had started getting aggressive and angry when Mituna started pulling away, back when his and Latula's relationship began to bloom, but now Cronus shouted at him in desperation, trying to bring his old friend back. He was bitter and angry that the old Mituna was gone, and Latula could understand that to _some_ degree, but he was still an asshole who made too many crude comments to let it slide all the time.

"No, you're right, you didn't," Latula answered.

"He didn't used to hate me, right? I remember… a little bit. He and I were friends. Does he hate me because I'm broken?"

"You are _not_ broken, Tuna," Latula said, a heavy tone weighing down her voice.

"Yes I am." Mituna said, dampening the entire mood of the evening. Latula felt those frustrated, angry tears prick at her eyes again. She hated hearing him put himself down like that; it didn't matter how true he thought it was. And then she let her anger overflow.

"God dammit! Mituna Captor, you are _not_ broken! You listen to me right now; you have made it through two years since your accident, and has it been hard? Yes! But you've made it this far. You're almost done with high school. Just because you're different doesn't mean you're damanged. And I can't stand to see you hate yourself because of it." She was _actually_ beginning to cry at this point. She hated to think such selfish things, but… things were hard for her too. Not the Mituna stuff, but her anxiety. It had really been peaking lately, with college applications and the thought of being a real adult out in the world. It easily overwhelmed her, and there was _no_ appropriate outlet for it. "And for that matter, why is this always what we talk about?"

"Wh- what?"

Latula struggled to calm herself down. "I'm… sorry, Tuna. I didn't mean to yell, I just hate to see you like this."

"Don't be sorry."

"Just… I also hate that this is always how the day ends. I know Cronus sucks, and I know you shouldn't let him get to you, but… God. Mituna, you're not the only one with problems. Don't you understand that I have my own insecurities? Why can't you… why do we always focus on you? A relationship means mutual support and I feel like… you don't emotionally support me. And it's so frustrating to feel that way! Because I know you can't always help it, and I know you love me, and I love you too, but I'm just so…" Words escaped her for a moment. "…inadequate."

"Latula Pyope, you aren't _fucking_ inadequate. You don't have t-to fake a thing. I think you… are beautiful and amazing and sweet and generous, and if anyone else is too _stupid_ to see that, they don't deserve anything from you. N-not even friendship." Now Latula was crying from the genuine, albeit aggressive, love she was feeling from him.

"Maybe we're both broken." Maybe they could be broken together.

"If I know anything, I know you're not broken."

"Maybe it's just anxiety talking."

"Latula, I will fight _anyone_ who thinks you aren't the BEST girl ever," Mituna said, a laugh entering his voice. Latula couldn't help but laugh too.

"You're not a fighter. Not in your nature."

"Aha! You're right; I'm a lover. And I love you."

"I love you too, Tuna," Latula said, and then she thought about his initial suggestion a bit more. They _had_ been dating for a long time, and they _did_ love each other. Wasn't that what mattered with this sort of thing? "And, well, since you asked, maybe we can move into the bedroom?" Mituna's face turned red again, and then he let out a laugh as he started running for the stairs.

"Yeah-heah!" he cheered, Latula laughing behind him as they ran to her room, Latula lingering over Mituna on the bed before giving him a long, hard kiss.

Latula rest her head against Mituna's shoulder, enjoying the copious amounts of snuggling the two were doing in the aftermath of everything else.

"Ahaha, you're the best, Tulip." She giggled, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek again.

"As great as this is, Terezi's probably going to be home soon. We should get dressed." Despite the fact that her sister was blind, this was probably the last thing Latula wanted her to walk in on.

"Aww, but you're so hot!"

"Tuna," she grinned at him, but there was a note of seriousness in her voice. He grumbled, but still began to gather his clothes. After a moment, Mituna was on the phone.

"Uh, hey, nerd!... None of your beeswax! …I'm with Tulip, god! Fuck no!... Aaaaaagh!"

"Who was that?" Latula asked, though she had a feeling she already knew. Mituna could be crass, but he didn't usually speak to his fathers like that.

"Sollux."

"Do you have to go?"

"Noooo! I don' wanna."

"Tunaaa, come on. I'll give you a ride," Latula offered, but Mituna just frowned at her.

"Nooo… you wanna be home when Terezi gets here. I can walk home."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm!"

Well, there was certainly something to be said about his enthusiasm. Latula walked Mituna back down to the door, giving him one last kiss before he left, and then resumed her viewing of _Parks and Recreation,_ but her phone was just _itching_ for her attention; for her to tell someone. School hadn't even gotten out that long ago, either; she and Mituna just had an empty sixth period. Latula wondered if Porrim would be online; she'd gone pretty crazy at the Halloween party. Still, she gave it a shot.

gamegrlCredz [GC] began pestering genderedArticulate [GA]

GC: yoooo!  
GC: popo merrygamz!  
GC: you would not BELIEVE what just happened  
GA: I wasn't under the impression you were the type to gossip.  
GC: oh DAMN you got me  
GC: well does it count as gossip if it's about me?  
GA: In that case, please do elaborate.  
GC: well ya know how me and tunez have been dating for like, EVER, but never really got physical?  
GC: i didn't really think he'd be ready for that since, uh  
GC: well our relationship backtracked after the accident  
GA: But now?  
GC: popped mah cherry, grl!  
GA: Congratulations.  
GC: is that really something to congratulate?  
GA: Yes?  
GA: I don't know, it is something of a landmark.  
GA: At least, in a relationship.  
GC: i dunno  
GA: Well you messaged me to tell me, I presume.  
GA: Clearly you thought a big enough deal of it to be excited to share the news.  
GC: fair point  
GC: i wanted to talk to you about it tho cause you're the most  
GC: sexperienced?  
GC: idk if that's like an offensive thing to say  
GA: It's not, simply a factual statement.  
GC: kayyy, didn't wanna come off as slut-shamey or anything  
GA: You can't shame a slut if she has no shame.  
GA: I don't think sexual proclivity is anything to be ashamed of.  
GA: It's not as if I've cheated on anyone.  
GC: GURL you know i wish i had your kind of confidence  
GA: You know you let yourself get too bogged down in your insecurities  
GC: yah but i can't help it  
GC: sometimes i feel like i'm just not good enough  
GC: idk, like not feminine enough or resilient enough  
GC: definitely not smart enough  
GA: Latula, you're not giving yourself enough credit.  
GC: man i knowwww  
GC: you tell me that every time we talk about this  
GC: and then you tell me that i overcompensate with the RAD GRL schtick  
GA: You do.  
GC: i can't help it!  
GA: I'm not saying it's a bad thing, Latula.  
GA: Just that there may be a better way to deal with your insecurities.  
GA: If this is how you cope for now than far be it from me to stop you.  
GA: Are you still on anxiety medication?  
GC: yeah but trying to get better without it  
GA: That's good.  
GC: i wish i could talk about this kind of stuff with mituna but we always end up talking about his issues  
GC: which is fair but like  
GA: No it isn't.  
GA: It's not fair to you.  
GC: actually yeah  
GC: and i kind of exploded at him today  
GA: What do you mean?  
GC: idk it was like a lot  
GC: before the sex  
GA: You yelled at him first?  
GC: it's a long story  
GC: i yelled cause i hate to see him down on himself  
GC: and he did the same  
GC: and we decided neither of us are broken  
GA: You two certainly have an interesting dynamic.  
GA: But hey, as long as you're both happy.  
GC: fo SHO  
GC: LOVE that boy  
GA: Well at any rate, sounds like you deserve a night out.  
GA: Whether to forget about your insecurities or to celebrate.  
GA: I know a bar that won't card you.  
GC: oh man that would be RADICAL  
GC: but we have school tomorrow  
GA: Don't be ridiculous.  
GA: I know for a fact that you can miss your first few classes, and I won't be drinking, if you're concerned about having a DD.  
GC: i mean…  
GC: ok  
GC: yeah RADICAL  
GC: sounds TIGHT popo merrygamz  
GA: That nickname…  
GA: It is… it is just so awful.  
GC: oh whoops  
GC: want me to switch back to pornstar?  
GA: …Merrygamz will be fine.

genderedArticulate [GA] ceased pestering gamegrlCredz [GC]

It wasn't like Latula to go out with the explicit intention of drinking underage, especially to a bar, but Porrim simply had a way of convincing her. The only thing Latula didn't care for about the bar was guys hitting on her, and not sensing that she was uncomfortable or respecting her boundaries until she said, "sorry, I have a boyfriend." Porrim handled things a lot more smoothly than Latula did. It was supposed to be a girls' night, so Latula wasn't opposed to it when she realized that Porrim had found another friend at the bar.

"Latula!" Porrim called, waving her over. A lean, tall, blonde girl was standing next to Porrim, and Latula walked over to meet them at a patio table.

"Hey GIRL!" Latula said, grinning at the new friend. "I'm Latula."

"Roxy Lalonde," the blonde said.

"So, Rox, what's this with your cousin?" Porrim asked. Not that it was any of Latula's business, but if Roxy was willing to share, Latula would be happy to listen.

"Oh. So I got a message from Dirky yesterday asking if I'd heard from Dave but I didn't see it until later 'cause I was HELLA hung over from my _own_ Halloween party, and I didn't know what was going on so I went to talk to Rose who said that Dave messaged her and he was hiding out at his friend John's place? Anyway so we all do some prodding together and through a confusing exchange of Pesterchum chats figure out that Braiden is a complete wad. So, he's been doing this training shit and basically saying Dave isn't tough enough and all this like… oh fuck, what did Rose say? Stuff about toxic masculinity. She knows about it, she talks to Dave more. So we tell my mom since she's like, I dunno, a responsible person and she knows Braiden really well; they're like siblings even though they're not siblings because fuck if my family isn't screwed the hell up. And she spent yesterday chewing him out on the phone, and then talking to John's dad and like, figuring out legal stuff? Anyway I knew Braiden was gonna be here tonight and like up until now he and I always got along but I wanted to tell him I think he's the worst scum imaginable. Like, who spars with a 14-year-old kid?" Porrim and Latula exchanged a look. Latula had literally just met this girl and everything she'd just heard was incredibly alarming and she didn't know whether to feel bad for her or buy her a drink. Sounded like she needed one. At that moment, Roxy flagged the waiter down. "Hey, can you get me a martini?" she asked.

"Sorry, Rox, I'm not supposed to be serving you anymore. Braiden told us how old you two actually are and I technically should probably kick all three of you out."

"Oh come on, one more for old time's sake?" Porrim cooed at him. Latula covered a snicker. She sort of admired how Porrim wasn't afraid to use her sexuality as a weapon.

"Well, uh… sure. But this is the last time," he said.

"Nice!" Roxy cheered. "What about you, Por, you getting anything?"

"No, I'm the DD for the evening."

"Tules?"

Latula was the slightest bit caught off guard by the shift in attention towards her, but she composed herself quickly. "Aw RAD, uh, can I get a vodka lemonade?"

No sooner did the waiter leave than another man appeared, his hair spiked underneath a baseball cap and a scowl beneath a pair of triangular sunglasses. He planted his hands on their table and leaned forward towards Roxy, Porrim and Latula on either side.

"Dick move, Rox. You come to my workplace and assault me?"

"Throwing a drink in a bar isn't assault. Girls face worse on a daily basis and if you think child abuse and abandonment doesn't warrant more than that then you are deluded!" Roxy shouted, her voice raising.

"Keep your voice down, you little shit, or I'm gonna lose my job."

"You should! You deserve to lose everything! You're losing your cousins, you lost your brother, you're gonna lose your other one, and you don't deserve the wealth you have."

"If we weren't in public, I'd—"

"Oh my GOD, did you just grab my boob?" Porrim shouted, gathering way more attention than Latula was comfortable with. "The DJ just groped me!"

"What? No I didn't! Alex, you saw."

Latula turned in her chair to see the waiter with their drinks. "I saw… I saw you giving these three a hard time…"

The result, at the end of the day, was justice—Braiden got fired and forcibly escorted from the premises. Latula grinned; Terezi would have loved to see this.


	8. Conflict-Resolution-Conflict

Things stayed pretty much the same throughout November. Terezi and Vriska were still mad at each other, so in coping with that, Terezi started hanging out with Karkat more again, and she noticed a new, weird tension between him and Nepeta, one that was only made obvious when Terezi was over at their house and Nepeta either wasn't there, or was avoiding him, because usually the two girls would roleplay together at least for a bit while Karkat rolled his eyes at them. Though Terezi hoped they'd be able to patch things up on their own, after a while, she felt as though it might help to shoot Terezi a message.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering arsenicCatnip [AC]

GC: So whats going on between you and Karkat?

AC: ohhhh

AC: nothing

GC: Really? Because I was over a couple weeks ago and you were nowhere to be found :/

AC: he called me out for having a crush on him

AC: and yelled at me about it

GC: Oh man Nep, I'm sorry

GC: If you ask me, he's acting like a petulant toddler about it

AC: oh, no, its not his fault

AC: maybe i DID come on a little too strong

GC: I mean

GC: Yeah

GC: But still, he shouldn't have yelled at you

AC: mmm, yeah, maybe…

GC: Anyway, Karkat probably has other things to deal with

Terezi knew this to be very much true. Since Dave had confessed that he had feelings for Karkat, Terezi had been keeping notes on their behavior when they were around each other, and though Karkat hadn't actually said anything, neither to her nor Dave, she had a feeling that he had feelings for Dave, too. Karkat did not know what subtlety was when it came to his emotions.

AC: hmm?

GC: Oh, it's nothing

GC: I have been sworn to secrecy

GC: In any case, you should just talk to him about it

GC: You know

GC: Clear the air?

AC: i guess

AC: but i feel so weird about it now!

AC: everyone in the house feels so weird about it now

AC: its quiet and awkward all the time

GC: All the more reason to fix it

AC: :((

AC: youre purrobably right

AC: talk to you later

arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Terezi let out a sigh, a bit jealous that she knew Nepeta and Karkat would reconcile. Terezi and Vriska hadn't exactly been on speaking terms since the Halloween party, the exception being during Biology class, and even that was only to make sure their labs got done. The silence was only more deafening since being on Winter Break. Well, there was Feferi's party that night. That could definitely be a chance to talk to Vriska, because as much trouble as she was, Terezi didn't like not having Vris around.

Terezi arrived at Feferi's place before too long, the party already in full swing, and spotted Vriska on the couch minding her own business. It seemed like she was more talking _at_ Jade than _to_ Jade, who was on the couch next to her flicking through the music channels.

"Hey Vriska," Terezi said, trying to get her attention.

"What." Vriska's voice was disgruntled and annoyed.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"You're already talking to me."

"I mean about… our fight." Terezi wasn't sure why she was being so hesitant and nervous about this; it wasn't like Vriska was her girlfriend or anything. But still, it sucked to be arguing with your best friend, and Vriska seemed to recognize that this was actually a somewhat serious topic.

"Oh. That. Well, go ahead."

"Uh…" Terezi was very aware that there were people around, and this was a conversation that she'd rather be having in private, but Vriska made it clear that it wasn't going to happen that way. Maybe this was another instance of her being manipulative; Terezi wouldn't yell or get angry again if they were in front of a bunch of people for risk of making a scene. "Well… I'm sorry I blew up at you like that. I can't expect you to change overnight, but it doesn't even seem like you're trying. I just… things aren't always going to go your way and I think you need to accept that and relinquish just a little bit of control and stop trying to manipulate everyone else's lives."

Vriska was quiet for a moment. "Yeah… I had been kind of thinking the same thing. I don't like being mad at you."

"And I don't like being mad at you! Can we stop being mad at each other?"

"Yeah. Scourge Sisters?"

"Scourge Sisters."

Terezi and Vriska fell into a regular conversation after that, laughing and talking as though they'd never fought at all, and Terezi was glad for some return to normality, and then John showed up and caught Vriska's attention. Not that Terezi could fault her for this; though Vriska hadn't said anything, Terezi was pretty sure those two had some sorts of feelings for each other, and she knew this wasn't a conversation that should be interrupted.

"Hey Vriska," John said.

"Hey John. Nice to see you."

"Yeah… you look really nice tonight… did you have a chance to watch that awesome video I linked you to?"

"What video?"

While Terezi was listening to their conversation, the unmistakable squeak of a wheelchair told her that Tavros had arrived. Oh boy. She already had a feeling in her gut that this was not going to go well.

"You know… the one about the renegade hero who busted loose from the slammer to save the day," John continued, blithely unaware of the potential (scratch that, the nigh inevitablity) for drama to unfold.

"John, the way you describe movies makes them sound extremely stupid. Why would I want to watch this crap?"

"Just do it. You won't be sorry. I mean, when you are not so busy or whatever."

"Uh, hey, guys," Tavros' wavering voice interjected. Terezi had half a mind to clear the area. Love triangle, here we go. She really wanted no part of it.

"Hey Tavros!"

"'sup, Toreadork." Vriska and John's greetings overlapped with each other.

"I, uh… got this. For you," Tavros stammered.

"This oughta be good." There was the sound of tissue paper rustling and being crumpled up, followed by a long silence in which Terezi couldn't really tell how Vriska was reacting, and then she spoke again. "Nice present, Toreadork. Like I don't have plenty of dice."

"I just thought, uh, I…"

"'I, uh, um…' Please, Tavros, spare us all from your pathetic whimpering for a change."

"But-"

"What's your deal, anyway? I don't see you hauling in presents for anyone else. I know I'm special and all, but if this is your way of showing me you like me, then forget it." Tavros hesitated for a moment, then left the room, and a deafening silence took his place. "What the fuck are you looking at, Four-Eyes?" Vriska snipped.

"Vriska!" John shouted, just as Terezi was about to. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?"

"You're being really mean. He was only trying to be thoughtful."

"I didn't…" Vriska's voice trailed. Terezi tried to think of something to say, but was coming up blank. Not that it really mattered; the situation seemed to have been diffused by Dave's timely entrance.

"'sup, everyone," he said. Vriska shuffled out past him, Dave stopped John from going after her, and Terezi was really not sure what to make of what had just happened. She was inclined to just go back to being mad at Vriska, but maybe that wouldn't be productive. It was hard not to let her worries about her friendship take over her mind for the rest of the evening, but Terezi was trying her best to enjoy the party regardless of the elephant in the room, even upon Vriska's return. It was really a conversation better left for later anyway. Instead, she spent the rest of the night hanging out with Dave and John, despite not being very talkative for the time being. She had to keep reminding herself not to spend the whole party thinking about Vriska, and eventually, she did have a good time with the boys, leaving not long after Dave did. Her only mistake was thinking that the drama was over for the evening. When she opened the front door to her house, she heard something that sounded off. It sounded like her mother was home. Not only that, but… it sounded like she was crying.

"Mom?" Terezi called, her voice wavering a bit as she was unsure of what was going on. She followed the sniffling sounds towards the kitchen.

"Terezi, oh," Rebecca sounded startled. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry."

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"I… went to the doctor today, for an ultrasound…" Oh. Oh no. Terezi had a terrible feeling in her gut. "I… had a miscarriage."

"No…" Terezi muttered, feeling her heart absolutely sink. She had no idea how to handle the situation in that moment; the only thing she could think to do was to hug her mother, so that was exactly what she did. While Terezi wanted to spend the evening with her mother, that plan was so rudely interrupted by her phone ringing.

"Call from: Vriska Serket," Nora announced.

"Ugh," Terezi scoffed, but she answered her phone anyway, stepping away from the main room to have that conversation. "Hello?"

"So, what, are you mad at me again?" Vriska immediately accosted her.

"Vriska, I really can't talk right now."

"I can't _believe_ that right after we made up, you're taking Tavros' side AGAIN."

"I'm not taking Tavros's side, I just—"

"Oh _really._ Then why did you not even try to talk to me afterwards?"

"Because you're a bitch! And maybe I had other things to think about! You are not the center of my universe! I got mad at you because you manipulate and you yell and abuse your friends, Tavros most of all, and you think it's fine just because he's too nervous and afraid to say anything to you. Well it's not. And right after we had that conversation about you _trying_ to get better, you go and embarrass him in front of ALL our friends, and it showed me that you're just as bad as everyone thinks you are, and unless you ACTUALLY shape your shit up instead of just _saying_ you're going to, I am not going to pretend I'm fine with things. Now if you don't mind, I really can't talk now. I've had an incredibly emotional night because my MOTHER just had a MISCARRIAGE. Goodbye!" Terezi slammed her phone on the counter. Why? _Why_ couldn't Vriska understand? Why did she have to make herself the focus of everything? Why did she have to be so cruel to everyone? Terezi let out a tense, heavy breath and picked her phone back up. "Nora, message Dave."

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

GC: Hey Dave  
GC: Can I talk to you about something

TG: can it wait

TG: im with kar right now  
GC: Well  
GC: Its kinda really serious actually  
TG: oh shit whats up  
GC: Just dont tell Karkat, I dont need him to worry about me right now  
TG: of course not  
GC: My mom had a miscarriage and Im really messed up about it  
GC: And also Vriska is being heinous  
GC: Like I thought we made up but then she immediately just proved me wrong about it  
TG: yeah she uh  
TG: she kinda sucks  
GC: I just  
GC: Dunno what to do  
GC: Can you come over? I could use the company  
TG: theoretically  
TG: but im riding home with jades cousin and idk if you want me to explain whats going on  
GC: Not that I have a problem with Jade but  
GC: Id rather you didn't  
TG: ok  
TG: well i can come by tomorrow if you still want  
GC: I would really appreciate that Dave  
GC: Hey  
TG: hm  
GC: Youre a cool guy  
GC: I hope Karkat figures that out soon

TG: thanks

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

The next day, Dave did come over, and after playing some games to kill time, Dave got to the bulk of the issue.

"So how're you doing?"

Terezi sighed. "I dunno, I guess I'm feeling better today. It was just a lot yesterday. With Vriska, and my mom… but it'll be fine. I guess I just needed to remind myself I have other friends."

"Well yeah, of course you do. There's me and John and Karkat…" Dave's voice trailed, and it was Terezi's turn to posit a question.

"What were you doing with him last night?"

"I just walked him home from the party. He asked me to hang out today, but…"

"Shit. But you told me you'd be here."

"Yeah."

A silence settled between them for a moment. "What's going on between you two?"

"I dunno… trying to figure that out. I felt real bad for blowing him off, too, but I didn't know what else to say. I think he thinks I hate him or something, which is weird because I've been flirting hard."

"I think that's more a reflection on him than you. He's got a lot of self-loathing built in. I think he has a hard time believing anyone would actually be romantically interested in him. Especially after the way things went with us."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "You and Kar?"

"Yeah. Middle school. We kissed like, once, and we both liked each other and 'went out' but then I went blind and shit kinda hit the fan, and romance was the last thing on my mind. Sorry… if that's weird."

"No, no, it's fine. So… what're you gonna do about the Vriska thing?"

"I think… she is not my problem. I don't have to do anything about it, and until she stops being an asshole to everyone, I am not going to."

"Are you sure?"

This time, it felt definite. Terezi was done waffling over this. "Yes."


	9. A Very Pyrope Christmas

Christmas that year was fairly subdued for the Pyropes. They were, of course, still recovering from the news that had hit them barely a week prior, but the three of them still managed to enjoy themselves a bit. Since there were only three of them, the exchanging of gifts did not take very long. Latula's gifts were mostly video game related. Terezi had managed to find a dress that apparently was designed to look like a Gameboy Color- at least, that had been what the clerk told her- and Latula seemed to appreciate it. Terezi's gifts were simple and small; a pack of Braille playing cards and some of the most obnoxiously colored t-shirts. Terezi grinned. She knew if (and when) she wore those to school, Kanaya would call her a fashion disaster, but what did she expect from a blind girl?

After the gift exchange, the girls sat down to breakfast, and then Rebecca started on their dinner, and a wonderful aroma filled the house, something Terezi wanted to tell her mother, but didn't at risk of offending Latula and her "disability". No matter how she thought about it, Terezi couldn't consider anosmia to be on the same level as blindness. Normally, Terezi would have invited Vriska over for Christmas since 1) Vriska was Jewish and 2) Vriska's family didn't always have good holiday experiences, but obviously she was not in a position of wanting to do that this year. But it was kind of nice, having an intimate Christmas, just the three of them. Terezi knew Karkat was jealous; his holidays were always sort of insane with his weird, big extended family. Terezi frowned. It would have been so fun to have a baby sister. It was always so quiet around, and she almost wished she had a bigger family. If nothing else, though, Rebecca had realized that the stress from work WAS too much, and she ended up taking some time off through February, and Terezi was glad her mother would be around more.

"Hey Mom," Terezi said after another moment.

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

Rebecca paused, glancing up at Terezi. "I love you too, Ter."

Maybe that was something Terezi didn't say enough. That would be a good New Year's Resolution; spend more time with Mom and Tules.

Terezi's thought was interrupted by her phone.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

-carcinoGeneticist [CG] has sent file 4 to gallowsCalibrator [GC]-

GC: Well, I can't watch the video but it sounds like you got another cat.

CG: Dammit.

CG: Look at me, being a grade A dipshit as per usual.

GC: I am not going to make you feel bad about it.

GC: You do that to yourself enough as it is.

CG: Oh shut it.

CG: You manage well enough that people who don't know you wouldn't even guess you're blind in the first place.

CG: Seriously, your fucking braille cell phone or whatever the fuck?

GC: Believe it or not, all phones used to come with buttons like that.

CG: Anyway, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas.

GC: Merry Christmas, Karkat!

For a moment, Terezi thought back to her conversation with Dave the day after the party.

GC: Hey, have you talked to Dave lately?

GC: Like, since Feferi's party?

CG: Ugh.

CG: No.

CG: He walked me home because I was feeling like a miserable douchewaffle, but then, nothing.

CG: Why, have you?

GC: Yeah.

GC: He came over the day after to help me deal with some shit.

CG: What shit are you dealing with that you couldn't tell me about?

GC: Karkat, I do not need to tell you about everything.

GC: Why, are you jealous?

GC: Ehehehe.

CG: No!

GC: Well, he seemed a bit distracted.

GC: Said he felt bad for blowing you off.

CG: Yeah well how sorry can he be?

CG: He hasn't even tried to talk to me.

CG: Not that I blame him, I made myself into a total shitting idiot in front of him.

CG: God, I hate this so much.

GC: I am not totally clear on what is happening between you and Dave.

CG: Nothing's happening, that's the damn problem!

CG: I have this giant gay crush on him and he's after you.

Wow. Just. Wow. That was probably the dumbest thing Karkat had said to her in a long time. All this trouble because he thought Dave was crushing on her? And here he was supposed to be this romcom expert. Maybe those movies just made him think everything was so much more complicated than it actually was.

GC: AHAHAHA!

GC: Karkat I

GC: Oh my god.

GC: I am not interested in him that way.

CG: Then tell him to back off or something!

GC: We're not doing anything, we are just two cool friends who like to hang out.

CG: I think he sees it as more.

He was so far off base. And of course Terezi couldn't just tell him that he was wrong, because that would just bring up more questions that she wasn't in a position to answer.

GC: Well that is just

GC: Not really my problem.

CG: Can't you just do me a solid this once?

GC: You want me to ruin the best friendship I have had since ours because you think Strider's trying to get into my boxers

GC: And you like him.

CG: Well when you put it like that…

GC: You're being dumb.

CG: You're probably right. I'm usually being dumb.

GC: Anyway, I need to get going

GC: But I will talk to you later when you stop being dumb about this.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] has ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

Jesus, how ridiculous was he being? Terezi shook her head as she re-read the conversation, scrolling up and taking a few screenshots.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

-gallowsCalibrator [GC] sent 3 images to turntechGodhead [TG]-

GC: Can you believe that dweeb

TG: wow

TG: wow dudes so off base

GC: He has this weird romcom-based complex that boys and girls cant be friends without there being some other motive

TG: he likes romcoms?

TG: brb rethinking this whole 'crush' thing

GC: Ha

GC: He is like OBSESSED with romcoms

GC: They make up about 85 percent of his movie collection

TG: omg

TG: that is so nerdily adorable

GC: Adorable?

GC: Oh my god Dave youre so whipped for him

TG: shut up

GC: :]

GC: I can smell your embarrassment from here

TG: jfc thats not even a thing but coming from you color me unsurprised

GC: Well if you get a chance I do suggest talking to him later

GC: Even if its just to say Merry Christmas or something

TG: yeah maybe

TG: idk im gonna be at roses

TG: you know she and kan are kind of a thing?

GC: Christ how could I miss that

GC: I may be blind but 'lesbian' radiates off both of them

TG: you know what

TG: thats fair

TG: anyway i should probably get going

TG: i still have to trade gifts with dirk

GC: Still?

GC: It's like 12

TG: yeah he just woke up like 40 minutes ago and hes been doing his hair

TG: even though im just chilling in my pjs he doesnt like anyone to see his bedhead

TG: even me

TG: so he told me to wait until hes done spiking it

GC: Your brother sounds like a nerd

TG: we cant both be as cool as i am

TG: anyway ill talk to you later tz

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

The rest of the evening was very low-key. Terezi went upstairs to get Pyralspite out of his tank and let him wander outside for a bit before giving him his dinner, and then sitting down to dinner herself. For once, there was no drama. The Pyropes had a peaceful night together, and that was all Terezi really wanted for Christmas.


	10. Lesson Learned?

Terezi was a little anxious about the New Year's party, and rightfully so, considering what had happened at the last party, and she hadn't really seen anyone except Dave since then. Reportedly, he and Karkat had been on a date in the interim, but Terezi didn't want to press either of them on it. In fact, while she was at Feferi's, the main thing on her mind was a very sharp awareness that Vriska was around, though there wasn't the same tension lingering in the air as there had been at the Christmas party, and Terezi felt no need to make amends. Vriska was minding her own business as well, and Terezi let her do so, neither of them even making an attempt to talk to the other. Terezi once again found herself enjoying the company of her other friends, for a change. She lingered around the drink table for a bit, where Gamzee had spent the better part of the evening leaning against the wall and basically just watching everything unfold.

"Hey Ter," he drawled, "looking good."

"Uh. Ok."

"Seriously, if it weren't for Kar, I'd wanna…"

An unsavory feeling rolled through Terezi's stomach and chest. "I thought you were into Tavros." She found herself rebuking Gamzee's compliments, even though part of her was a little flattered. Gamzee made an odd sort of low, growling noise in his throat, and Terezi tried to ignore him while she got herself a drink. After a moment, she heard footsteps.

"Hey, Terezi." Oh. It was John.

"Hey John."

"Hey… you're pretty close with Vriska, right?" Yeah, she had kind of been wondering when John was going to bring this up. Well, she wasn't in a position to be giving him advice about Vriska.

"We used to be closer, but… I don't know right now, actually, the friendship's kind of been at odds. Why do you ask?" she said, knowing exactly why he was asking; it was because he had a painfully obvious crush on Vris, and he didn't understand why Vriska waffled between him and Tavros, and truth be told, Terezi didn't understand that either. Vriska rejected Tavros when she knew they were both into each other, but now that Vriska and John were into each other, Tavros was this sad little pawn she was using. It was really weird and confusing, even to Terezi.

"No reason," John muttered. Terezi furrowed her brow, and she wanted to help him out, just a smidge.

"Listen, she's a hard one to get a hold on. Don't stress yourself out about it."

"Heh. If you say so." Some levity seemed to have re-entered John's voice, so Terezi felt a bit better about the situation. John was just confused, and if she was able to help just a bit- even though she found John fun to mess with she didn't like playing with emotions- that was a good sign. After John left, Terezi wasn't really sure what to do with herself. Gamzee was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable, so she didn't want to hang around the drink table for too much longer. Instead, she found herself striking up conversation with Feferi, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Hey Fef."

"Hi Terezi!"

"Thanks for hosting again."

"It's really no trouble. I love it when we all get to hang out together!" Terezi couldn't help but smile. Feferi was absolutely the cinnamon roll friend who just wanted to love everyone around her.

"Where's fishdick?" Terezi asked, and Feferi hesitated for a moment.

"He had to go home. We got into a… disagreement."

"Hm." Terezi thought that odd, but what also struck her as odd was the fact that Feferi didn't correct the "nickname". Normally she would have defended Eridan from being called such names, whether he was around or not, but she didn't. So whatever he'd done must've been really bad for Feferi to start thinking of him as a dick, too. "Everything alright?"

"Oh!" Feferi's trademark cheer reappeared in her voice, though Terezi honestly couldn't tell how genuine she was being. "Yeah, everything's fine! I didn't make him leave or anything; that was his choice." Terezi still couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something seemed off. But she wasn't one to force people to talk about their problems.

"Alright. Well, if there ever _is_ something you want to talk about…"

There was a pause. "Thanks, Terezi. You know, we don't talk enough."

"Agreed." After another moment, Feferi places a hand on Terezi's shoulder and scooted around her, finding a seat next to Sollux. The next thing Terezi heard was, not to anyone's surprise, a shout from Karkat.

"You piece of shit! You spiked the goddamn punch!" he yelled, the accusation ony further confirmed by Gamzee's spurt of laughter.

"No wonder Tavros looks worse than usual," Vriska said. Terezi rolled her eyes. Drama was unfolding; she could feel it. The countdown was going to start soon, and Terezi tried to distract herself with that, but as usual, Vriska's relationship issues took center stage. It was really getting tiresome. Terezi's ears pricked at Tavros' laugh.

"Waht're you doin'?" he slurred.

"I was gonna kiss you at midnight, you drunk fool," Vriska berated him. Oh. Oh no. Terezi pieced things together quickly. Vriska must've said something to John that made him pull away, so this was Vriska's way of not only getting Tavros all twisted, but also trying to make John jealous. Terezi sort of hated that she understood Vriska's mind so well. But Tavros seemed to be putting it together too.

"Ahah! I, uh, no. Nnnno. You don' wanna kiss meeee, you! Jus' wanna make…John…jealous. An' anyway! I don' think I wannaaa kiss you, anymore. You're, uhhhh, a mean. Person. You are mean to me. I don' like it. And if I haaaad to geuss, I don' think that, uh, Mister John likes it either. I know… must of us? Don't like it either. And uh, that's just. Sad. Vriskers. That most of us don't really like you? You're… too mean, eheheh. Gamzee! Can I get anudder drink?"

The room went silent, except for Gamzee's laughter. Wow, someone needed to get that kid drunk a lot sooner. Terezi would have applauded him. Drunk Tavros had finally stoof up to Vriska, and that was honestly kind of badass.

"Are you going to talk to her?" Terezi jumped a bit at the sudden voice speaking quietly next to her, but it was only Jade. "I thought you two were close."

"No," Terezi answered. "I told her she needs to get her act together. Tavros yelling at her like that is actually a good thing. I think."

"Hm." Jade hopped up onto the counter, perching next to Terezi.

"Hey guys! The countdown's starting!" Feferi called, presumably trying to maintain focus on the festivities. Terezi grinned, trying to push everything out of her mind. But the truth was, despite knowing it was for the best for both of them for the time being, she kind of missed having her partner in crime. Everyone was a duo at that point. There was Gamzee and Tavros, though it was questionable if Tav was even aware of his actions at that point. Sollux and Feferi, Karkat and Dave (who, whether they'd admit it or not, were one conversation away from being a couple), Nepeta and Equius, Kanaya and Rose, and even John and Jade, though that was pretty evidently only platonic. Terezi was the only one in the room who was alone, and as the countdown commenced, she really couldn't help but be very, very aware of that.

When school was back in session, Terezi slowly felt _less_ alone, if only because she was literally surrounded by people and spending more time with her friends again, but there was still something missing; that bond that she had with Vriska wasn't replaceable, despite Terezi's closeness with Dave. And then, things got even weirder.

"Hey, Ter," Gamzee murmured at her in the halls one afternoon just before lunch, his voice seeming more gravelly and low than usual.

"What do you want, Gamzee?" she hissed back, not really in the mood to deal with his bullshit clown antics.

"Can't a dude just say hi to a motherfuckin' bombshell?" Terezi turned, raising an eyebrow.

"'Bombshell'? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Just saying, you look real motherfuckin' pretty," Gamzee said, taking a step closer. Even though he was just a blur in front of her, Terezi knew when her personal space was being invaded, and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. But still…

"You think… I'm pretty?"

"Yeah. Hell yeah, sis. Bet you'd look even prettier with some bruises… maybe tied up…"

Terezi's stomach lurched. Why was she flattered by that? It was… she didn't know what to make of it. Gamzee was being weird. Well, more weird than usual. Thankfully, the conversation was prevented from going any further, and any weirder, by Vriska spontaneously falling through the door of the girls' bathroom, apparently halfway through a literal fight with Aradia. The weird part was that, Vriska was _losing._ As Aradia stormed out of the bathroom, standing over Vriska, a crowd began to form, and Terezi could barely hear over the din.

"Don't! Screw with me, Serket."

In all the commotion, Terezi escaped, both from the possible confrontation with Vriska and her uncomfortable encounter with Gamzee, searching for some solace in the cafeteria.

"So there was a fight at school today," Latula said, very blasé.

"Yeah, I know," Terezi murmured back. "I saw the very end of it."

"Who was it? I couldn't see."

"It was Aradia, and Vriska."

"Really? Never took Aradia for the type to get into a fight."

"No, she's not, that's why it's odd," Terezi said, turning in her swivel chair to face Latula. "The weirder part is that she _won._ Like, Vriska's arm was severely damaged and she was bleeding and stuff." The _even more_ fucked up thing was that Terezi doubted Vriska's mother would even care.

"Hmm," Latula hummed. "So what happened after?"

"I dunno, I kinda bolted. I think Tavros took her to the nurse? Aranea probably checked them both out of school for the day."

"Yeah. She was gone at lunch."

"And Aradia was probably at the principal's office… Man, so much drama," Terezi sighed. She propped her elbow up on the kitchen table and leaned her head against it.

"Do you know _why_ Aradia was so upset?"

"Probably the same thing Tavros yelled at Vriska about on New Year's… being a mean bully and pushing everyone around. But no. I didn't talk to Aradia."

Latula hesitated, not sure if Terezi was appreciating this line of questioning. But there was one more thing.

"Ter, I know you and Vris haven't been hanging out as much lately. Are you… do you think she deserved this?"

"I dunno. Maybe it was harsh. Maybe that on top of Tavros' words was a lot. But it doesn't matter to me. I'm just… not meddling in her affairs anymore."


	11. Alone

Maybe it was just that everyone was so wrapped up in their own problems, but Terezi's isolation and distance from not just Vriska, but several of her friends, was beginning to feel bigger, in a way. Even Dave seemed to be withdrawing from her in favor of spending more time with Karkat, and Terezi didn't know what she'd done to deserve this sort of rescinding from their friendship.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

GC: So did I like

GC: Do something?

TG: what

TG: no

TG: why

GC: Because suddenly nobody is talking to me, it's weird and lonely :[

TG: oh

TG: no everyones just

TG: dealing with their own shit i guess

GC: I know, but

GC: Mmmmm

TG: hey TZ chill its fine

GC: Yeah, you're right, I know it's not my fault or anything

GC: Maybe I'm just used to having someone around

TG: vriska?

GC: Or Karkat or you

GC: But you guys are practically attached at the hip now and I don't want to third wheel

GC: When did you two start spending so much time together anyway?

TG: ha whatre you talking about

GC: Oh, spare me the theatrics, Dave

TG: fine

TG: over break i guess

GC: :?

TG: uh we had a date

TG: and then

TG: we sort of kissed

TG: on new years

GC: What

TG: listen i dont totally want to talk about this

GC: Um

GC: Okay

GC: Just know that this will require some explanation at some point :]

TG: fair enough

TG: later TZ

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

As she put her phone back in her pocket, Terezi jumped at a loud clang of metal nearby. Gamzee had slammed his hand against the lockers.

"Hey, Ter." Terezi didn't want to answer him. Every time he'd said something to her since New Year's, Terezi really had no idea what to make of it. His comments were simultaneously compliments and violent threats, and Terezi was already becoming more and more unsure of herself. She shut her locker and started shuffling off towards her next class. "I said hi," Gamzee said again, suddenly right next to her. "You just gonna ignore a brother like that?"

"Gamzee, I just want to go to class. You've been weirding me out lately."

"I've just been complimenting you, sis. I don't think Kar ever really appreciated you, ya know? How pretty you are an' shit."

"You're nuts. He drove me crazy with that stupid crush."

"You ain't heard him talk lately, then. Talkin' bout he can't even believe he ever had a thing for you, sayin' how you ain't even that pretty, that smart…" Terezi felt a pang like a punch in the gut.

"You're lying… you're just trying to mess with me," she murmured, more trying to convince herself than anything, her mouth curling down into a frown.

"Not me, sis. I told him, nah, she's great. Be even greater pinned to the wall." Terezi was quiet for a moment. "You know, uh, Valentine's Day is coming up. Maybe you and I could hang out." Gamzee's voice slipped into something low, something of a growl, and Terezi just wanted to poof herself out of existence.

"Yeah, Gam, I'll… I'll think about it." Why was she even giving him an inch? Why would she even consider it? Terezi was suddenly so aware of how morose her voice sounded. Thankfully she was able to escape into her classroom, but that didn't keep his words from clawing at her mind. He was absolutely lying to her; she knew that. He was being weird because he was sober, and he was picking at her self-esteem because it was weak lately and he knew that, and he was lying to her about stuff Karkat said. Maybe it was a way of getting back at him for some weird reason or maybe he was suddenly interested in a fucked up way because his dad was being vaguely homophobic or maybe Gamzee was just mad and rebounding because his long-standing crush on Tavros went nowhere- it was unfortunate that Gamzee happened to get a crush on the one tolerable straight guy in their group. But all the logical arguments in the world couldn't help Terezi in that moment. In a time where she was already lonely, some boy picking at her sudden insecurities made her slump down in her desk, his words echoing in her mind. Was this what Latula felt? Was this what anxiety felt like? The crippling fear that suddenly all her friends had abandoned her because she wasn't pretty or cool or smart enough? Even though Terezi told Latula all the time how awesome she was, and she had a boyfriend and supportive friends… Terezi didn't feel like she had any of that- at least, she didn't feel like it just then. She spent the entire class period just thinking about this, and when it ended, she struggled to think of who to go to, if anyone. Rose was smart. Maybe she could help. And Terezi knew more or less where Rose's locker was, so she made her way over there, keeping her nose out for Rose's lavender perfume, eventually finding and tracking it.

"Rose, can I talk to you about something?"

Rose hesitated, in a moment of what Terezi could only assume was surprise.

"Of course."

"Okay, so…" Terezi paused, wondering how best to explain the situation. "I think… Gamzee's like, flirting with me? But not cute flirting, like kind of aggressive flirting. And…" Here was the part that Terezi hated, but what she was about to say was certainly true. "I'm kind of into it?" She was, admittedly. She liked Gamzee saying she was pretty, and smart, even if he was saying it in a weird way. "But I'm really fucked up about it, 'cause there was some shit with Dave, and also with Karkat, and Gamzee is kind of Karkat's best friend, so it's kind of wrong for me to date my sort-of-ex's best friend, right? Not to mention I think Gamzee is not really himself and pissed that Tav didn't reciprocate? I really just…" her voice trailed. Rose looked at her, mildly bewildered, and Terezi was aware of the overload of information she'd just provided. She let out a sigh. What was she really expecting to accomplish here besides alienating even more friends? "I shouldn't be attracted to Gamzee. That's all."

"It sounds… complicated."

"It is."

"What kind of things does Gamzee say to you?"

"Stuff like… I'd be hot all tied down, or pinned to his wall. That he wonders what it would feel like to bruise me up and…" The more she talked about it, the more Terezi realized how messed up it all was- even moreso that she was even entertaining the idea of having a thing for Gamzee. "I dunno, he's kind of fucked up lately."

"And you're…"

"I know it sounds bad! I just…" Terezi sighed again. How could she possibly explain what was going on in her mind, when she didn't even understand it herself? This whole thing was stupid. "Nevermind. I shouldn't have said anything," Terezi said. A lump of nerves settled in her stomach as she went off to her next class.

As if Terezi wasn't feeling crummy enough, Vriska messaged her once she got home that afternoon.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Heeeeeeeey Terezi.

GC: What do you want?

AG: So grouchy.

AG: What's your problem?

GC: Vriska why are you messaging me

AG: Just thought you ought to know that John asked me on a date today and I said yes.

GC: Okay

AG: That's it?

GC: Yeah I don't really care

GC: Date him, don't date him

GC: It doesn't matter to me

AG: Oh come on, you love butting in on my business.

GC: Not really

GC: Or, not anymore I guess

GC: I think you make bad decisions

GC: And I would normally advise you against them

GC: But I am not doing that anymore

AG: Right.

AG: Because you're mad at me.

GC: I'm not mad at you

GC: I'm done

GC: I told you until things change I'm done so do whatever you want to do and leave me out of it

AG: Okay?

AG: What am I supposed to do with that?

GC: Take it whatever way you like

GC: I am not in the mood to perpetuate this conversation

AG: You seriously just don't want to talk to me anymore?

GC: Well I'm not having a great day

GC: And I think you just wanted to tell me about your date to make me feel worse about myself

AG: Uuuuuuuugh you're so frustrating :P

AG: Well, fine, I will go, but first let me ask you a question.

GC: Fine

AG: Do you actually think me dating John is a bad decision?

GC: Actually, no

GC: I think saying yes to him is one of the first good decisions you've made regarding boys

AG: Because it was an honest answer?

GC: Yes

GC: I don't understand how this is such a difficult concept but people will like you when you stop lying about yourself and manipulating them and being rude

GC: So saying yes to John showed a true interest in him

GC: You know

GC: Beyond trying to make Tavros jealous

AG: Hm.

GC: Because people aren't these little pawns that you get to move around and play against each other

AG: Okay.

AG: So…

GC: So…?

AG: Uh. Nevermind.

AG: Bye, Terezi.

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Fuck this. Why was Terezi the one who was alone? Why was she the one who was suddenly doubting everything about herself? Why was she the one who let her self-esteem crumble? She wasn't so self-entitled to believe the answer was really just that 'she didn't deserve this', that was something Vriska would think. And the worst thing about it is that, as upset as Terezi was, she still couldn't bring herself to cry. She was just sort of… numb. And since Latula was gone and Mom was gone, Terezi turned to the one person who could never let her down. She took Pyralspite from his tank and laid down on her bed, listening to his little chirping sounds until she felt like moving again.


	12. Progress?

Things very gradually… did _not_ get better. Terezi still felt very isolated from her friends, and she still couldn't quite pinpoint why. It wasn't her fault, it couldn't be _her_ fault, but everyone was so… busy? She wanted to keep telling herself that everyone had their own issues, that she couldn't possibly know what was happening in everyone's lives, and just because they were off in their own worlds didn't mean they weren't still friends with her, but that didn't mean it sucked any less. The only consistent thing was Gamzee being… odd… and Dave messaging her from time to time. She knew she could talk to him about her problems, but some part of her felt like that was intrusive on his life. Like she was some kind of burden. And then, one of those sporadic moments that appeared.

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

TG: so i may have collosally fucked up  
GC: Oh lord  
GC: What happened  
TG: kar and i were on a date  
TG: and he started crying onstage

TG: he was like really upset  
TG: with me

GC: Why?  
TG: dunno  
GC: Really, you don't think there's _anything_ you did?

TG: well  
TG: maybe  
GC: :?  
TG: short version is i have problems with affection

GC: Okay…?  
GC: Do you want to talk about it?  
TG: dunno  
TG: lets not for now  
TG: howre you doing

GC: Well… 

Terezi ponderd over things for a moment. Maybe keeping everything all pent up wasn't good. Maybe she did just need someone to talk to.

GC: To be honest I've been better  
TG: how so  
GC: Just  
GC: I dunno, like I said I'm just used to having someone around  
TG: and you still havent talked to vris at all have you  
GC: No  
TG: well maybe thats not a bad idea at this point  
GC: You think?  
TG: listen im all for cutting toxic people out of your life  
TG: and i definitely dont want to encourage some weird co-dependency  
TG: but if you miss her so much  
TG: and lets be real you do  
TG: you should at least tell her how youre feeling right now  
TG: and honestly i think vris is at least trying to make an improvement  
TG: i think tavros talked to her or something  
GC: Hmm  
GC: Maybe you're right  
GC: You know that you're really smart, don't you Dave?  
TG: tsh my grades beg to differ  
GC: No, not booksmart  
GC: Or maybe you are and you don't apply yourself :P  
GC: But you're like, people-smart  
GC: You and Rose both have this really huge skill for interpreting other people and helping them through issues  
GC: But somehow have difficulty figuring out your own  
GC: Because boy does she smell like alcohol lately  
TG: oh yeah  
TG: ive noticed  
TG: if she doesnt knock it off i think ill have to put an intervention together or something  
GC: Well count me in on that  
TG: so what do you think  
TG: gonna make up with vris  
GC: Maybe  
GC: I'll talk to her in class tomorrow  
GC: Thanks, Dave

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

Terezi thought it over. When she thought about it, Dave was right. Ultimately, her friendship with Vriska made her happy, or at least happier than she was currently feeling. And if Vriska was making an attempt to _not_ be a terrible person, then maybe she needed Terezi around, too, even though it seemed like Vriska was doing just fine without her, with John and the others. But still, she told Dave she would talk to Vriska, so that was what she did in class the next day.

"Vriska," Terezi said as she hopped into her stool in Biology class.

"Oh, we're speaking?"  
"Yeah, I think I… I think we should."

"Finally decided to apologize, then?"

"I! No! I don't think I have anything to apologize for, Vriska. I cut you out because I thought our friendship was toxic. But… it seems to me that you're becoming more aware of yourself."

"I… uh. Okay," Vriska said. Terezi could tell she wasn't sure how to respond.

"Listen, Vriska, you and I are best friends. I don't think there's any denying it."  
"I agree, but you're the one who decided to leave."

"Yeah, but… like I said. It was about how you treated other people. And now I think you're at least trying to be better."

"So… you forgive me?"

"I don't know if 'forgive' is the word I would use. More like… I am willing to acknowledge your past as your _past._ I just… miss you."

"Ter, that's the gayest thing you've ever said to me. But. You wanna get the Scourge Sisters back in action?"

"Yeah…"

"Well… I miss you too. So let's just make amends already! Besides, someone's got to keep you from making terrible romantic decisions."

"What!"

"Let's be real, you have terrible taste. Karkat, Dave…"

Terezi laughed a bit, but there was a third boy on that list she didn't want to mention. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea for Vriska to know, because she'd surely interfere in what was bound to be an unhealthy relationship, but Terezi still had her doubts about telling people. Something in her demanded that she keep it secret. The whole thing still seemed kind of odd to her. There had to be some kind of reason for Gamzee's sudden, erratic behavior, and Terezi wanted to do some investigating. She knew better than to believe Gamzee would say anything to her, though. No, she'd have to find another source.

"Tules?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

Terezi hesitated, walking into her sister's bedroom. They got along just fine, but they weren't particularly close. "I was just wondering… do you know if there's anything weird going on with the Makaras? Like, has Kurloz said anything, or…?"

"You know Kurloz can't exactly say anything, Ter. And besides, it's not like I'm the person he'd be talking to."

"Yeah, but I just thought, he's close with Mituna. They're friends, right?"

"Mhm. But Tuna doesn't like talking about Kurloz for some reason," Latula muttered. It certainly seemed odd that Mituna wouldn't talk about his best friend with his girlfriend. "The only thing I know about Kurloz's home life is that his dad is pretty strict. Heh, if he found out both those boys were high all the time…"

"So he doesn't know they smoke?" Terezi asked. Come to think of it, Gamzee didn't seem stoned nearly as much anymore.

"I guess not."

"Hmm," Terezi murmured. "The only other thing I know about Mr. Makara is that he's vaguely homophobic… Gamzee's not exactly straight, considering he spent the better part of this year trying to get with Tavros…"

"Why are you asking about them anyway?" Latula asked.

"Just… Gamzee's being screwy lately," Terezi murmured. She was kind of starting to feel bad for him. Maybe his dad's opinion of him being… well, Terezi didn't want to say gay but it was probably the case… maybe he felt pressured by it. Maybe his dad bullied him into quitting smoking, so he didn't have that relaxant, and maybe he wanted to show some kind of interest in a girl in order to appease his father. It was a lot of hypotheticals, but if she was right, Terezi knew Gamzee was in a shitty situation. That didn't exactly explain his "compliments", but in a way she hadn't even fully explored yet, Terezi was somehow flattered by them. The idea that anyone wanted her in a romantic way, in a sexual way, when she herself still felt like there was a hollowness about her… the idea of a relationship sounded appealing, and she disregarded what the nature of that "relationship" could end up being. When she was honest with herself, Terezi thought there were too many possibilities for her to continue just blatantly ignoring Gamzee's advances. Would it be the worst thing in the world for her to move on from past crushes? Karkat clearly had. Terezi took a breath before returning to her own room.

"What should I do, Pyralspite?" she said, glancing towards his tank. He just chirped at her indecisively. She let out another sigh and slumped into the seat at her computer desk. Despite still being unsure; despite her better judgement, Terezi clicked open Pesterchum and tapped out a message on her Braille keyboard.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering terminallyCapricious [TC]

GC: Hey, Gamzee

GC: You still want to hang out sometime?

TC: Sure motherfuckin thing, sis.


	13. Complications

Time kept moving, and they only got further into spring. Terezi wasn't sure if hanging out with Gamzee was making her feel better or not. His affection certainly wasn't gentle, and Terezi was still self-conscious about this enough to continue keeping it a secret. But if nothing else, she and Vriska were on speaking terms again. It wasn't going unnoticed, either.  
"Soooooooo, you're awfully busy after school these days," Vriska said one day as they walked through the halls. Terezi looked down at her feet. In truth, she'd been hanging out with Gamzee. And they always met at the weirdest places—empty classrooms, under the bleachers at the football stadium, and the oddest occasion of all, the time Gamzee told her to meet him in the parking lot behind the grocery store, the one that led into the pipes near the Arroyo. Terezi knew perfectly well why. They'd made something of an agreement to keep whatever this arrangement was on the downlow, lest word get out. She knew that Gamzee knew that if Karkat knew, the shit would absolutely hit the fan. But even so, Terezi couldn't help but feel that Gamzee was… ashamed to be seen with her? But bringing it up would only mean trouble. So when Vriska asked, Terezi didn't say anything. What was there to say, anyway?  
"Yeah, been kinda busy, I guess," she murmured.  
"What, hanging out with Karkat?"  
"No."  
Vriska stopped prying, then, and Terezi was grateful. She didn't even know what to make of things; how could she begin to explain it? As Vriska and Terezi walked to class, they passed by Gamzee, who was headed the other way, and he shot a sort of lopsided grin at Terezi. "Hey, hang on, Vris, I'll catch up with you."  
"Uh, okay," Vriska muttered before continuing on her way down the hall. Terezi ran over to Gamzee, who had paused at his locker.

"Hey Gam, did you want to hang out tonight? There's this podcast I think you might-"

"Not today, Ter. Got some motherfuckin' business to take care of." For some reason, his rejection stung. For weeks, before Terezi and Vriska reconciled, Gamzee had been her only source of any positive attention, and even after the Scourge Sister reunion, Vriska was still self-absorbed, attention focused on her own problems, and Terezi… maybe she was relying too much on Gamzee wanting her around, but she really couldn't help it, so hearing that even Gamzee was tiring of her was like a dagger to the stomach.

"Ok, well… I can ask my mom if you can come over for dinner this week," Terezi suggested. Even though she couldn't see the shift of Gamzee's expression, there was definitely a change in the atmosphere.

"I thought you understood we were keeping this quiet."

"Yeah, but…" Terezi paused, not sure what else to say, and then a question popped into her mind. "...am I your girlfriend?"

"What?"

"Am I… your girlfriend?" Terezi repeated, finding her voice was stronger that time.

"Let's not label anything," Gamzee murmured. The hallways were beginning to clear, everyone getting to their classes. Gamzee's voice was a lone, dry sound in an echoing hall. He closed his locker and started to walk away, Terezi still trailing behind him.

"I know… I know you don't want labels, but… I need to know what's going on between us; I need to know that I'm not just some joke to you." There was a silent, tense moment, then Gamzee let out a sort of low chuckle.

"Nah, not a joke. You're just lucky I even let you stick around." And before Terezi could even say anything else, the tardy bell rung and Gamzee disappeared down the hall, leaving her with a lump of embarrassment in her throat. She was only able to move again when a teacher came up from behind and scolded her for being late to class.

Terezi went through the rest of the day in a bit of a haze, feeling a deafening numbness worse than any hollowness she'd yet experienced. And yet, when Latula, or her mother, tried to ask what was wrong, Terezi would push them away. She would insist that she was fine. She'd always been the one to take care of herself, anyway, and her mom was beginning to get sucked back into work again. She didn't want to burden them with her emotional problems. She'd be fine. She didn't even pause to think about what Gamzee meant when he said he had business to take care of. She was trying not to think of Gamzee at all, but of course he messaged her, and of course Nora automatically read it out loud, so Terezi couldn't ignore it.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

TC: hey ter  
TC: some shit's going down  
TC: and i might not be around for a bit  
GC: What?  
GC: What do you mean?  
TC: i mean i motherfuckin up and fucked the shit up  
TC: i can't say more than that  
TC: don't come lookin for me  
GC: :?  
GC: Gamzee what's going on?  
TC: just  
TC: i gotta go

GC: Wait!

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Terezi ran a hand through her hair, not rally understanding what had just happened. She certainly didn't know how to react. Everything was a mess. "Hi, I'm Terezi Pyrope, and my life is a walking disaster," she muttered bitterly to herself.  
"You have one unread Pesterchum notification," Nora announced, since Terezi was in the app. Terezi furrowed her brow. The only reason Nora wouldn't have read it off already was if it was a group chat.

"Nora, who's that Pesterchum notification from?"  
"Notification from: Group chat. Initiated by twinArmageddons."  
Terezi hummed. She always hated sitting there for 20 minutes while Nora tried to read off all the messages. 9 times out of 10, memos were just Karkat bitching about something anyway, but this thought was proven wrong about an hour later when Dave messaged her, too.

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

TG: hey so sols putting together a surprise party for aradias birthday  
GC: Oh, is that what the memo was about?  
TG: yup  
TG: i wasnt sure if you saw it  
TG: or heard it or whatever  
GC: No, my phone AI won't read memos unless I ask her to.

GC: I have a hard time keeping track of who said what in those big group chats.  
TG: makes sense  
TG: well that was pretty much the gist of it  
GC: Hm, okay.  
GC: Thanks for letting me know.  
TG: no problem  
TG: is everything okay  
GC: I'm just

Terezi paused. She wanted to tell Dave the truth, about everything, but she also knew it would just open up too many questions about Gamzee.

GC: There's just some shit going on.  
GC: I'll be fine.  
TG: yeah okay  
GC: So when's the party?  
TG: friday after school  
TG: prospit park  
GC: Okay, nice.

Terezi did manage to find some relief in talking to Dave, if only because it distracted her for a bit. Gamzee was indeed missing from school the next day, and for the rest of the week, and Terezi honestly didn't know what to make of it. She and Dave were both taking solace in the other's romantic shortcomings—or at least, it seemed that way. Terezi still hadn't told anyone about her and Gamzee, partially for worry of how he'd react if she started telling people. When Terezi was truly honest with herself, she was a little scared of Gamzee. He seemed to have grown a propensity for violence, and it was a little alarming, so the fact that he was gone was both a relief and somewhat distressing. It was clear he'd gotten into some kind of trouble, but to what extent, Terezi couldn't be sure. She didn't see him at school at all for the rest of the week, not until Aradia's birthday party that Friday, but both of them were keeping a distance. Terezi knew he didn't want things to be public, and she still hated that it seemed like he was keeping her away from him, but she didn't know what to truly do about it. Instead, Terezi was hanging out off to the side with Dave and Jade. Everyone was really sort of doing their own thing, apart from when Aradia arrived and they all yelled "SURPRISE!" They were all eating food and making conversation, but not all together. They were all off in groups of two or three, which suited Terezi just fine, to be honest. Even in the conversation with Dave and Jade, Terezi found herself acting as more of a bystander than an actual active participant. She was still sort of trapped in her own head thinking about everything that had been happening that year; with Karkat and Dave and Vriska and Gamzee, and her mom, so she just listened as Dave and Jade chatted.

"Hey, did I ever tell you that John thought I had a thing for you before we came out to him?"

"Did he really?" Jade laughed. "Whoa, can you imagine if you and I dated and Jake and Dirk dated?"

"I try not to think about it. Dirk would always want to go on doubles."

"Soooo, if you don't mind me asking, what do you think you identify as?"

Dave sighed. "I told Rose I'm pan and… that feels about right."

Jade just hummed in affirmation, while Terezi was absentmindedly poking her cane into the grass. From the gazebo, she could hear Vriska yell, "Hey fuckers, who wants to bet I can chug this whole bottle right now?!" Terezi smiled to herself a bit. Same old Vriska. It was kind of funny, even if nobody took her up on it. After another moment, that same voice was coming towards her. "Ter, Ter, guess what." Terezi looked up, furrowing her brow at Vriska.

"What, did you actually drink the whole 2-liter that fast?"

"What? No. John kissed me."

Terezi opened her mouth to say something, but just then, she heard another shout, this time from Karkat.

"HOLY SHIT! I'll be there as soon as I can." Terezi could only assume he was on the phone.

"Karkat, you FUCKER!" That was Sollux. "Can you not lose your shit for one day?!"

"Well excuse me, shithead. My dad just got shot."


	14. Dad Problems

Terezi didn't know what to do. Her fight or flight response was in full action. Karkat ran off with Nepeta, and the rest of them were trying to get their act together. It only seemed appropriate that the party would come to an end there, so Terezi called her mom. Amazingly, she actually answered the personal phone after a few rings.

"Terezi, what's up?"

"Can you come get me? The party's ending early."

"You sound distressed, is something wrong?"

"Yeah, Karkat just got a call and, uh… Mr. Vantas has been shot."

"WHAT. I'll be right there." Terezi slid her phone back into her pocket, and she glanced over to where Jade and Dave were standing, all three of them in equal shock. Dave looped one arm around Terezi's shoulder and the other around Jade's, and the three of them had a very small group hug. They were all pretty close with Karkat, and all three of them knew how great a person Solomon was, so the hug was actually pretty good consolation in the moment. What else were they supposed to do? Terezi only broke off when her mom arrived, and even then, Dave walked with her to the car.

"Dave, do you need a ride home?" Terezi asked.

"Nah, Dirk and Jake are on their way to get us," he muttered. Terezi hugged him again before climbing into the passenger seat. She could already tell that her mom was absolutely pissed about the whole situation. She'd been an avid follower of Solomon and his teachings for years; that was the whole reason Terezi and Karkat were such lifelong friends. And when Terezi got in the car, her mother was already on the phone with the police agency and cursing up a storm.

"Fucking of course it was Candace. Think about it- she already knows that we're on her case." Terezi winced. Her mother wasn't always a lawyer; she used to be a detective with the police, and apart from murder investigations, she'd been investigating allegations against the Peixes Corporation for literal years. Of course there was never hard evidence or anything. Candace Peixes wasn't a fool. But apparently this was fishy. "Solomon has spoken out against her for as long as I've known him. Do you know what she fucking does when someone gets in her way? She takes them out. Or has someone else take her out. No! I'm just saying, it's worth looking into. I can't stand to see that witch run the town the way she fucking does. Fine. I'll prove it myself." Rebecca sighed as she clicked the car phone off. "Sorry you had to hear that, 'Rezi." Terezi didn't say anything. She was just wondering if it could be true, and if Feferi knew, if that were the case. Really, Terezi sort of felt bad for Feferi sometimes, knowing her mom was going to push her into running this huge corporation that, at the least, did some morally questionable things that Feferi certainly wouldn't agree with, but at the same time, didn't this also give Feferi the opportunity to change things? It was all a lot to think about; if Terezi and her friends would just keep following this cycle that their parents got them into, or if they could actually change things.

As soon as they got home, Rebecca left again and Terezi was alone, being suffocated by silence. She wondered if Latula knew; she was pretty good friends with Kankri- by which, Terezi meant that Kankri used to have a massive crush on Latula that never went anywhere, but they still got along- and there was no way of knowing if Kankri had told anyone.

gallowsCalibrator [GC1] began pestering gamergrlCredz [GC2]

GC1: Hey so

GC1: I dunno if you heard, but

GC1: Mr. Vantas got shot today and I think he's in the hospital

GC2: Wait what

GC1: We were all at Aradia's birthday party and Karkat got a phone call from Ms. Leijon

GC1: And he said 'my dad just got shot'.

GC2: Oh shit

GC1: I dunno if Kankri wants all you guys to know

GC1: But I am not totally okay about it

GC2: Okay I won't tell anyone

GC1: By which you mean you'll only tell Mituna

GC2: …

GC1: I just don't want it to get back to Karkat and Kankri that we're spreading rumors

GC2: I get it

GC2: Do you want me to come home?

GC1: I…

GC1: Dunno

GC1: Mom thinks it was Candace

GC1: And she left

GC2: I'll head back

GC1: Thanks Tules

gallowsCalibrator [GC1] ceased pestering gamegrlCredz [GC2]

Even when Latula came back, things were still quiet. The girls weren't really sure what to do with themselves. Latula tried messaging Kankri to see how things were going, and he didn't respond, so Terezi tried messaging Karkat, and he didn't respond, either. There was no news all weekend, and Terezi was beginning to seriously worry. If there was some sort of good news, Karkat would have said something by then, right? Or maybe he was just ignoring his phone. Terezi couldn't say she'd blame him for that. Still, the silence was very alarming, and it was only broken on Sunday, by Dave, of all people, initiating a group chat between the 4 people most likely to never be in a group chat together. Terezi got the notification and immediately told Nora to keep her updated on the messages. This was one group chat she didn't want to miss out on.

turntechGodhead [TG] opened memo on board: vantas leijon maryam protection squad

TG: hey so

TG: yall are the ones closest to karkles nep and kan respectively

TG: i figured if you guys hear anything we can keep each other up to date

TG: so we all know how to support them

TG: even though kar isnt talking to me right now

gallowsCalibrator [GC] responded to memo

GC: I haven't heard anything.

GC: I think Kar is staying at the hospital until they let his dad out.

TG: hmmm

tentacleTherapist [TT] responded to memo

TT: Nothing from Kanaya yet, either.

centaursTesticle [CT] responded to memo

CT: I messaged Nepeta.

CT: She seemed very alarmed but they have Solomon with the doctors.

TT: Did she say anything about anyone's emotional state?

CT: She said

CT: AC: everyone is sad and scared and i am too and there's nothing we can do about it!

TG: valid

GC: Okay well, if anyone gets an update, let us know.

The memo remained open, and Terezi tried to put it out of her mind, but it was only more alarming when Karkat continued to ignore her messages. It was Monday; she'd been left on silence since Friday afternoon. That only gave her more frightening thoughts, and maybe it was selfish, but she really wished he'd just say something! The memo picked back up again on Monday morning, during first period, and Terezi had to excuse herself from class to listen to the messages.

TT: Kanaya said there hasn't been any news.

TG: no news is good news

TT: Theoretically, yes.

TT: But she's still a bit…

TT: Out of it.

CT: As is Nepeta.

CT: I suggest we be delicate about the topic.

TT: A wise choice indeed, Equius.

GC: You guys haven't seen Karkat around, have you?

TG: he wasnt in class this morning

TG: wouldnt surprise me if he didnt show up at all

TG: i mean

TG: you said he was staying at the hospital until his dad gets released so maybe hes still there

GC: That's what's worrying me; it's been three days.

GC: He's not answering my messages.

TG: come on dude his dad is in the hospital

GC: Yeah, I'm just…

GC: Worried.

TT: We all are.

Terezi hated that they were right; she was making these worries about herself, and not about Karkat. There was a good reason he wasn't answering; it wasn't as if he was explicitly trying to ignore her. She just wanted to know that he was okay; that Solomon was okay. Not knowing was so stress-inducing. Not knowing was unbearable. The only thing that was worse than not knowing was getting the news that Terezi was about to get. Once again, a group memo popped up, and once again, Terezi couldn't leave herself out of the loop. Not on this one.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] opened memo on board: FUCK

CG: Hey everyone.

CG: So…

CG: Bad news.

CG: My dad… he…

CG: Didn't make it.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] responded to memo

CC: Karkat, I'm so sorry!

turntechGodhead [TG] responded to memo

TG: fucking blows dude

CG: Don't be sarcastic, Strider.

TG: im not

TG: it may shock you to know that i am in fact

TG: capable of sincerity

TG: give me the benefit of the doubt dude

TG: instead of hopping all over me the minute i open my mouth

TG: all up in my business like youre trying to hop on my dick

CG: GROSS, fuck off.

TG: nah man the fuck is on

TG: your sympathy fuck i mean

TG: looking for one?

twinArmageddons [TA] responded to memo

TA: wouldn't put it past him

TG: haha nice one man

Terezi shook her head. Why were they like this? Was it a boy thing, or a Dave thing? Honestly, both were equally possible.

CG: You FUCKERS!

CG: Stop ganging up on me, it's seriously not cool.

CG: I'm having an honest to God crisis.

arachnidsGrip [AG] responded to memo

AG: Honestly, Karkat, when aren't you having a crisis?

CG: UUUUUGH forget it.

CG: Why did I think I could talk to you assholes?

ectoBiologist [EB] responded to memo

EB: guys, come on

EB: karkat just lost someone important to him.

EB: i don't think it's the time for dick jokes

TG: what are you like his boyfriend or something?

EB: dave, no.

EB: i'm not…

EB: i'm straight, dave.

TG: sure

TG: youre about as straight as i am

TG: but sure

CG: Egbert, PLEASE. I DON'T need your fucking help.

CG: Strider, SHUT UP.

AG: Soooooooo

AG: What exactly was the point of this group chat?

AG: Half of us aren't even online right now.

TA: man i wish i wasn't

CG: I was trying to get to that.

CG: I could honestly really use some moral support right now.

CG: So you're all invited to the funeral.

CG: Not that any of you will actually show up.

CG: Now leave me alone.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] is now an idle chum!

Terezi furrowed her brow. The whole interaction felt off. But aside from that… she just couldn't believe Solomon was gone. Like, really, actually gone. No, this had to be some kind of elaborate prank. But… Karkat didn't pull pranks, he thought they were "childish". Even so, he wouldn't lie about something this serious. Terezi didn't know what to think, or do, except hope it wasn't real. But it _was_ real, and Terezi had to face the truth of it when she and Latula went to the funeral. It was so… weird to wrap her head around. Solomon had been like a second father to her growing up, and even more so after her dad left them. Terezi felt herself tearing up as Dessie gave her eulogy. "Solomon Vantas was… one of the kindest, greatest people I ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was so inspirational to me, so influential to the word; how he was just… always trying to help whoever he could, always trying to make peace or find a diplomatic way around a problem- that was all he wanted to be. A diplomat. He wanted to make a better future for his kids, for my kids… Solomon was…" Her voice cracked. She was about to lose it. "…my best friend, and my first love. When we met in high school, I knew I'd found someone I could confide in. Someone I knew I wanted in my life. He had such an idealistic concept of what the world could be. And… oh, the way he lit up when we talked about how we could improve the world, leave our mark… and then we fell in love… and then… both left for different colleges. I never thought I'd be lucky enough to find him again, but I was. I swore I'd never lose him again. And yet, here we are. Solomon Vantas was… a great man, who did great things, and I will not let that be in vain. He may be gone, but the impact that he's had will be with us forever." Terezi hung her head low. She almost wished she'd had some opportunity to say goodbye to her dad. But no. He was just gone one day, years ago. At least Karkat knew his dad loved him. He didn't choose to abandon them. But… then, at least she knew her dad was out there somewhere. After another moment, Kankri took Dessie's spot at the podium.

"My father was an ambitious, idealistic man. He was always trying to do something to help someone, and help this town. Someone I always admired, and from this day on I will be taking up his cause and do my best to be as he was. Thank you for everything, Dad." Somehow, this wasn't quite as moving as Dessie's speech, but Latula seemed to only notice just then that Terezi was getting a little… upset, and put her arm around Terezi's shoulder. Terezi leaned into her sister.

"Tules, do you ever wonder how things would be different if Dad had, like… cared about us?"

"What? He did."

"But he left. He doesn't even pay his fucking child support. I just... this sucks," Terezi muttered. "This whole thing sucks. Our dad bailed on us, and now the guy I've looked up to for the last four years as a sort of father figure is dead. I can't… ca…" And then Terezi just started crying, pulling herself further into Latula, who just wrapped her arms around and hugged her.

"I know, Ter. I know." Terezi just let Latula console her for a bit, and when everyone started moving around and heading to the Vantas-Leijon's for the reception, Latula and Terezi left. Terezi was definitely not emotionally stable enough to keep thinking about Solomon. Even though Terezi knew it was in her own best interest to not go, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Karkat had explicitly asked for some moral support; he was the one whose actual dad died, after all, and Terezi couldn't even give him that because she was too busy feeling bad for herself, and if that didn't make her a shitty friend, she wasn't sure what would be considered a shitty friend. Somehow trying to make herself feel better only made Terezi feel worse.


	15. Graduation

"Come on, Latula, we're going to be late!" Rebecca called up the stairs. Latula appeared at the top of the stairs, in her cap and gown. White really seemed like a bad color choice to Terezi, especially since the ceremony was outside. Of course, white was really all she could see. Wouldn't it stain? Regardless, Rebecca and the girls got into the car (after taking a few pictures) and headed towards Skaia High, where all the senior students were gathering on the football field. After Latula joined the others, Rebecca and Terezi found seats relatively close to the Vantases and Maryams. The stadium was full of chatter, all cheerful and excited and happy-sounding. Terezi still hadn't admitted it to her mother, but she was still feeling morose about Solomon, and about things in general. There was still a sort of stilted distance between her and her friends and Terezi wasn't the same self-assured girl she was when the school year started. And to make matters worse, Latula was leaving for college. While the sisters didn't have a perfect relationship, Terezi did love her sister, and she felt like everyone was moving on with their lives, and leaving her behind. Things had already gone to shit, and she had three years of high school left. When the graduates threw their caps in the air, the only thing Terezi Pyrope could feel was crippling self-doubt.


End file.
